By Alistair Smout and Kanishka Singh
LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – British Foreign Secretary David Cameron will meet Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday during his trip to the United States and will press MPs in Congress to pass an aid package for Ukraine while also discussing the Israel-Gaza war.
Before meeting with Blinken, Cameron will meet former President Donald Trump in Florida, a spokesperson for the British government’s Foreign Office said, describing it as a “standard practice” engagement with an opposition candidate.
Cameron last week said he would meet with Republican House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson and urge him to approve a $60 billion military aid package for Ukraine, which he has supported for months.
“Ukraine’s success and Putin’s failure are vital to American and European security,” Cameron said in a statement, stressing that it was important to demonstrate to Russian President Vladimir Putin that “aggression doesn’t pay.”
“The alternative would only encourage Putin to make further attempts to redraw Europe’s borders by force, and would be heard clearly in Beijing, Tehran and North Korea.”
The Foreign Office said Cameron will meet congressional leaders from both the Republican and Democratic fronts.
The Foreign Ministry spokesperson did not say what Cameron and Trump, the Republican candidate in November’s presidential elections against incumbent Democratic President Joe Biden, would discuss.
“It is normal practice for ministers to meet opposition candidates as part of their routine international engagement,” the spokesperson said.
Britain has been a staunch ally of Ukraine since Russia invaded in 2022, but Cameron stresses that it is the US that is the “keystone of the bow” as its pace and scale of support for Ukraine they have no equal.
During the trip, Cameron will stress the importance of increasing economic pressure on Russia and giving Ukraine “the military and humanitarian support it needs to hold the line this year and go on the offensive in 2025,” he said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Cameron will also discuss sea routes for aid to Gaza during the trip, as well as pushing for a full and transparent investigation into the “completely unacceptable” deaths of seven aid workers, including three Britons, he added.
Cameron will reiterate Israel’s right to self-defense in accordance with international law following the October 7 Hamas attacks, but will stress that major changes are needed to ensure the safety of aid workers on the ground, his office said.