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British Foreign Secretary David Cameron met with former president Donald Trump in an attempt to drum up support for Ukraine.
Lord Cameron is also expected to meet Republican politicians as he attempts to unblock a multibillion dollar package of aid for Kyiv that has been stalled in Congress for months.
The meeting took place at Mr Trump's residence in Florida, Mar-a-Lago, before Lord Cameron heads to Washington.
“Ahead of his visit to Washington, the Foreign Secretary met former president Trump in Florida,” said a UK Foreign Office spokesman on Tuesday.
“It is standard practice for ministers to meet opposition candidates as part of their routine international engagement,” he said.
Mr Trump, who is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has been critical of the US's ongoing support for Ukraine and is expected to drastically cut military aid if he wins the election later this year.
Gaza war
Lord Cameron will also meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and discuss the situation in Gaza, including the deaths of seven World Kitchen aid workers, three of whom were British citizens.
He will call the deaths “completely unacceptable” and will also call for “major changes” in the way Israel conducts the war in Gaza.
The Foreign Secretary will also continue to push for a “full, urgent and transparent” investigation into the deaths of the aid workers.
Although Downing Street has insisted the government is “completely united” in its stance towards Israel, Lord Cameron is widely seen as having taken a more strident approach towards criticism of the country.
The Foreign Secretary is expected to use the trip to underscore the need “to ensure the safety of aid workers on the ground”.
The UK and US “have been clear in Israel’s right to self-defence in accordance with international law”, the Foreign Office said.
The UK government has come under pressure to suspend arms export licences to Israel following the deaths of the aid workers.
More than 600 lawyers, including former Supreme Court judges, warned that London risked breaching international law by continuing to allow the export of weapons to Israel.
Unblocking Kyiv aid
During the trip to the US, Lord Cameron will urge politicians to approve a stalled package of aid for Ukraine which he says is “vital” for US and European security.
Lord Cameron will push for Ukraine to be given the resources needed to “hold the line” and “go on the offensive” next year.
He will urge politicians to “change the narrative” on support for Kyiv while the multibillion-dollar deal remains held up on Capitol Hill.
On his latest visit, Lord Cameron will meet figures across Congress to call for them to provide the extra $60 billion (£47.5 billion), the Foreign Office said.
He will say that nothing can match the pace and scale of US support, which remains “the keystone in the arch” in the fight for democracy, the department said.
The Foreign Secretary was expected to tell Mike Johnson, Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, to stop his colleagues from continuing to block the support amid opposition from hardliners aligned with Mr Trump.
It is the latest of several interventions made by Lord Cameron over additional funding for Ukraine.
Earlier this year, he warned Congress not to show “the weakness displayed against Hitler” in the 1930s in his comments which drew ire from some Republican lawmakers.
Ukraine-Russia conflict latest – in picture
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Ukrainian rescuers at the site of a rocket attack on a residential building in Dnipro, south-eastern Ukraine. EPA -
Rescues carry a person wounded by a Russian missile strike in Dnipro. Reuters -
Rescuers tackle a blaze at a building struck by Russian bombs, in Dnipro. AP -
An apartment building hit by a Russian missile strike in Dnipro. Reuters -
Ukrainian soldiers fire at Russian positions near the town of Kupyansk, Kharkiv Region. AFP -
A building destroyed by a Russian air strike in the front-line town of Orikhiv. AP -
A dog stands on the rubble as rescuers work at the site of a destroyed building during a Russian missile strike in Chernihiv. Reuters -
A Ukrainian serviceman works on an FPV drone in a workshop in the Donetsk region. Reuters -
Local resident Kateryna, 77-years-old, walks with a litter of puppies, which she feeds in the yard of her bomb-damaged apartment block in the town of Kurakhove. AFP -
Ukrainian rescuers at the scene of a missile strike near a residential building, in Zaporizhzhia. EPA -
A woman looks at the damage in her flat after debris from a missile strike hit nearby, in Kyiv. EPA -
Ukrainian firefighters at the scene of a missile strike in Kyiv. EPA -
Ukrainian servicemen take part in military training at an undisclosed location near the frontline. EPA -
Ukrainian troops run near the site of a rocket attack on an industrial building, in Kharkiv. EPA -
A pilot operates a drone at a training ground in the Kyiv region. AFP -
Ukrainian and Russian soldiers are depicted in a tug-of-war on a memorial in Izium, Kharkiv region. AP -
A man looks at his home in a damaged apartment building in Izium, Kharkiv. AP -
Ukrainian civilian women are trained to use weapons, in Kyiv. AFP -
A Ukrainian soldier mans a position as new recruits receive training at an undisclosed location in the Donetsk region. EPA -
A man pays tribute at a makeshift memorial for fallen Ukrainian soldiers, at the Independence Square in Kyiv. AFP -
An emergency worker at the scene of a Russian attack in Odesa. AP -
Ukrainian recruits are trained by members of the Danish military, in the east of England. AP -
Danylo, commander of an engineering and sapper company of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, inspects pyramidal anti-tank obstacles known as 'dragon's teeth' before installing them into a new fortification line in Zaporizhzhia region. Reuters
“Success for Ukraine and failure for Putin are vital for American and European security,” the Foreign Secretary said on Monday.
“This will show that borders matter, that aggression doesn’t pay and that countries like Ukraine are free to choose their own future.
“The alternative would only encourage Putin in further attempts to re-draw European borders by force and would be heard clearly in Beijing, Tehran and North Korea.
“US support for Ukraine has massively degraded the military capacity of a common adversary, Russia has lost half of its pre-invasion land combat power, and a quarter of its original Black Sea fleet, while creating jobs at home and strengthening the Western alliance and Nato.”
Over $184 billion (£145 billion) has already been committed to Ukraine by European nations, including over $15 billion from Britain.
The US has committed about $74 billion.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned on Sunday that Ukraine will lose its war with Russia if Congress does not approve the deal.
