The UK's balancing act over Trump's 'Ukraine peace plan'

Coffee House Shots

The Spectator

News, Politics, Government, Daily News

4.4 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 14 February 2025

⏱️ 13 minutes

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Summary

Leaders from around the world are gathering at the Munich Security Conference, with the UK represented by Foreign Secretary David Lammy. All attention has turned to Ukraine, given statements this week by President Trump that he had spoken to Putin (and later Zelensky) about ending the Russia-Ukraine war.

Trump's statements, for example that NATO membership should be off the table, put him at odds with European allies. The UK signed a joint statement with leaders from France, Germany and others, that Ukraine's independence and territorial integrity are unconditional. Is the UK walking a tight-rope between the US and Europe? Where does this leave the NATO alliance? And, with a strategic defence review underway, what should the UK's approach to defence spending be?

Patrick Gibbons speaks to James Heale and The Spectator's Russia correspondent Owen Matthews.

Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Before we begin this podcast, I'd like to tell you about a special deal.
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0:31.6	Hello and welcome to Coffee House Shots, the Spectator's Daily Politics Podcast.
0:34.9	I'm Patrick Givens and today I'm joined by James Hill and I, Matthews.
0:44.4	All eyes will be on Munich this weekend as leaders from around the world gather there for the annual security conference and try to work out how to react to Donald Trump's proposed Ukraine peace plan.
0:50.1	James, Trump's statements that he'd spoken to Putin about ending the war appear to blindside European allies.
0:55.5	And Defence Secretary John Healy put out a statement that Ukraine should decide when to start negotiations with Russia.
0:58.9	Do you have any sense of what the UK will be looking for this weekend?
1:02.2	Well, I think the UK is in some ways stuck between a rock and a hard place,
1:05.9	which is its desire to have a close relationship with the Trump administration,
1:09.3	while also mindful of its past and current commitments to Ukraine.
1:11.7	So the key act of the UK government these next few days will be trying to walk the line between those two things. I thought it was
1:15.7	interesting when they had the Wednesday phone call between Trump and Putin thereafter, there was a
1:19.8	European statement put out. And I think that the UK statement was a little less bullish and was
1:24.5	anything, which is saying, well, look, you know, we need to wait and see what actually comes of these talks. And I think that was the UK government trying to
1:32.3	suggest that actually there could be some wiggle room there. It was noticeable, I think, perhaps,
1:37.1	that last night, Pete Esketh, who is the American Defense Secretary, was then suggesting that
1:41.3	actually it would only be Donald Trump who makes this decision.
1:43.6	President will lead these negotiations alongside our Secretary of State, our national security advisor,
1:48.0	and numerous other officials that will be involved.
1:52.0	And ultimately, we've played our role in talking to our NATO allies about what that would look like.
	...

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