As if transatlantic relations could not get any worse. Barely 72 hours after the Oval Office bust up, the Trump administration announced that the US had suspended all military aid to Ukraine – a move that caught much of Whitehall off guard. Now UK politicians of all stripes have hit out at JD Vance, after the Vice-President made some rather ill-judged comments on Fox News…
Speaking to the broadcaster, Vance insisted that ‘if you want to actually ensure that Vladimir Putin does not invade Ukraine again, the very best security guarantee is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine’. But the VP didn’t stop there. Going on, Vance remarked: ‘That is a way better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years.’
Naturally this has not gone down too well in Britain, given its role in Iraq and Afghanistan. As shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge was quick to point out, both Britain and France came to the US’s aid after IT invoked Nato Article 5 clause post 9/11.
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