Kemi Badenoch has said the US is acting in its national interest and the UK also needs to, ahead of Sir Keir Starmer’s meeting with Donald Trump.
The Conservative leader, giving a foreign policy speech in London on Tuesday, told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby the US is “not an authoritarian regime” and shares the same Western values as the UK, including free trade, free enterprise and free speech.
On Monday, the US sided with Russia on two UN resolutions when they declined to condemn Russia’s war in Ukraine, and backed a resolution for the conflict’s end that avoided labelling Russia as the aggressor or acknowledging Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Politics latest: UK defence spending to rise to 2.5% of GDP
Ms Badenoch said the second resolution showed the US “acting in its national interests”.
“It is being realistic and we need to be so too,” she said.
“Now, that doesn’t mean we’re going to agree on everything. We disagree with them on that resolution, for example.
“But that is why I want the prime minister to be successful in his talks and find out what the thinking was behind that.”
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‘Absolutely critical’ Starmer succeeds in DC
Ms Badenoch also said it is “absolutely critical” that Sir Keir succeeds in his talks on ending the war in Ukraine with Mr Trump on Thursday.
However, she did not provide details of exactly what he should succeed in.
Sir Keir is expected to discuss the importance of Ukraine’s independence, European involvement in peace talks and US security guarantees with Mr Trump.
Mr Trump, since becoming president just over a month ago, has called Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy a dictator and suggested Kyiv started the war.
He has also sent US officials to negotiate with Russia in Saudi Arabia – but did not invite Ukraine or any European leaders.
Call for Starmer to cut development aid and welfare budget
Ms Badenoch urged Sir Keir to “repurpose” development aid in the short term and look to make welfare savings to fund increased defence spending.
She said 2.5% of GDP on defence is “now no longer sufficient” because any country that “spends more on debt interest than it does on defence, as the UK does today, is destined for weakness”.
“I will back the prime minister in taking these difficult decisions,” she added.
Her call came ahead of the prime minister’s unexpected statement on Tuesday lunchtime, in which he said UK defence spending will rise to 2.5% by 2027, and 3% in the next parliament.
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The world has changed and the UK is not ready
Ms Badenoch said the UK must “accept reality” that the world has changed and “we can no longer hide behind vapid statements that were at best ambitious 20 years ago and are now today outright irrelevant”.
“It is time to speak the truth. The world has changed and the UK is not ready, so we must change too,” she said.
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She accused the West of not doing enough to support Ukraine as “we were too ineffective, too indecisive and too often behind the curve”.
Because of that, she said: “Putin gained what he needed most, time. We now see the consequences.
“An end to the war is being negotiated while a fifth of Ukrainian territory is under enemy occupation.”
However, she said she was proud of the support her government gave Ukraine in the run-up to Vladimir Putin’s invasion and “in those first crucial weeks and months of the war”.
