Pat McFadden has distanced the UK from Donald Trump’s claim that it’s easier to get on Russia than with Ukraine.
The US president is pushing for a quick peace deal to end the Ukraine war and has upended the united western approach by aligning himself more with Vladimir Putin than with Kyiv.
He even started a spat with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office last month, claiming the country was not grateful for America’s support.
And, speaking from the White House on Friday, the US president said: “I’m finding it more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine.”
The UK – which has presented itself as a “bridge” between the US and Europe during this tense moment – is therefore treading carefully, trying to hold onto Trump’s backing, while also shoring up security guarantees for the continent and looking after Ukraine’s sovereignty.
On Sky News, presenter Trevor Phillips asked the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, McFadden, just how the government felt about Trump’s latest remarks.
He said: “The United States, I know you’ll tell me we are close allies and so on, but they seem increasingly unreliable.
“The American president says that he finds Vladimir Putin easier to deal with than Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“Does our prime minister endorse that judgement?”
The cabinet office minister replied, with a smile: “It’s not the view we would take of President Putin, I think our views are on the record on that.”
“Don’t you think it’s a bizarre thing to say?” Phillips said.
“Well, you know, I’ve learnt in recent weeks that’s the best way to conduct interviews is not to see everything through the lens of what’s been said in the United States,” the senior minister said.
Phillips replied: “One might interpret that as the best way for British government ministers to conduct interviews is never to say anything that they think about Donald Trump.”
McFadden said he is regularly asked in interviews about his thoughts on the latest remarks from the US.
“We’ve taken a sensible decision, I think, not to conduct our diplomacy like that,” the minister added.
McFadden also refused to say if the US was a “reliable ally” for Ukraine during an interview on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, after Trump withdrew military aid and intelligence sharing from the beleaguered country.
“Their decisions on Ukraine are for them. We do think America is a reliable ally,” he said. “We talk to them constantly. In terms of the British position on Ukraine, we will continue to support them with weapons, with intelligence, with helping on the cyber front.”
