By Kolawole Ojebisi
Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch, has faulted Donald Trump’s approach to securing peace in Ukraine.
Badenoch warned that the U.S. president’s plan would effectively “reward” Vladimir Putin for his violent invasion.
The British Conservative Party leader who addressed the Russia-Ukraine planned peace talks in a hard-hitting foreign policy speech at the Policy Exchange think tank, stressed that the era of “Pax Americana”—global stability maintained by the U.S.—was “evolving, potentially even ending.”
She took aim at Trump’s recent remarks calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator,” asserting that it was Putin who fit that description.
“Putin was a dictator and I would be happy to tell Trump this to his face,” she said.
Badenoch stressed the importance of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s upcoming visit to the White House, stating it was “absolutely critical” that the trip succeeds in shifting Trump away from aligning with the Kremlin.
“An end to the war is being negotiated while a fifth of Ukrainian territory is under enemy occupation,” she cautioned.
“The danger is that aggression does not merely go unpunished, but ends up rewarded. Russia and other authoritarian regimes will be emboldened, if that is how this war ends.”
The Conservative leader also argued that Britain’s previous commitment to increasing defense spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2030 is now inadequate.
“2.5 per cent by 2030 is now no longer sufficient,” she stated, urging Starmer to explore alternative funding sources for defense.
“I will back the Prime Minister in taking those difficult decisions to increase defence spending,” she said.
“For example, he should consider whether some of the 0.5% currently spent on development aid should be repurposed, at least in the short term, towards defence and security. And he should also look at making welfare savings to fund increased defence expenditure.”
