LONDON — Britain's top diplomat David Cameron insisted it's “profoundly in your interest” for the U.S. to pass a stalled package of aid to Ukraine, hours after a face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump.
During a U.S. charm offensive — which included dinner with the Republican presidential candidate Monday — Cameron urged Congress to sign off on extra help for Ukraine in its war against Russia amid months of gridlock over the $60 billion package.
Speaking Tuesday in a joint press conference with his U.S. counterpart Antony Blinken, Cameron said “nothing is more important [for Ukraine] than the supplemental that the Congress is looking at at the moment.”
“I come here with no intention to lecture anybody or tell anybody what to do or get in the way of the process of politics and other things in the U.S," Cameron said.
“I just come here as a great friend and believer in this country and a believer that it's profoundly in your interest and your security, and your future and the future of all your partners, to release this money and let it through,” he added.
Cameron on Monday dined with Trump at the former president's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Cameron declined to get into specifics of what he dubbed the “private meeting” Tuesday, but said that the pair had discussed geopolitical issues like Gaza and Ukraine.
“This was entirely in line with precedent of government ministers meeting with opposition politicians in the run-up to elections,” the U.K. foreign secretary said.
Cameron did not unsettle President Joe Biden's administration with his house call at Mar a Lago. Cameron is far from the first foreign diplomat to engage with Republicans on the matter or Ukraine aid, and it’s not unusual for world leaders to engage with members of opposed political parties while traveling abroad, administration officials said.
Biden typically only meets with visiting heads of state, and is not scheduled to sit down with Cameron. But Blinken plans to host Cameron for a private dinner at his residence Tuesday evening, according to a State Dept. official.
NATO call
Despite previous beef, Cameron — a former British prime minister — said he'd had a “good” meeting with Trump and that, “whoever I am talking to, I tend to make the same points.”
“We've gotta do everything we can this year to get NATO in its strongest possible shape for its 75th anniversary, getting everyone up to 2 percent [of GDP on defense spending]," the U.K. foreign secretary said.
Trump triggered widespread concern in European capitals in February when he suggested he would “encourage” Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to NATO countries which don't meet their financial obligations to the alliance. He has since attempted to soften his rhetoric — but not before senior figures, including Cameron, had criticized him for his comments.
According to a readout from Trump's team, Cameron and the former president discussed “the upcoming U.S. and U.K. elections, policy matters specific to Brexit, the need for NATO countries to meet their defense spending requirements, and ending the killing in Ukraine.”
The readout from the Trump campaign adds that they also discussed “their mutual admiration for the late Queen Elizabeth II.”