The UK takes a “different view” from Donald Trump on Russian sanctions, a Cabinet minister has said amid questions about Washington’s backing for Kyiv.
Yvette Cooper said the UK would continue increasing pressure on Moscow despite Mr Trump’s decision to halt a package of sanctions that had been due to come into effect on Sunday.
But she declined to directly criticise the US president or say whether she thought he was on Ukraine’s side, saying Britain had to play “a crucial diplomatic role” in bringing the Nato alliance together in support of Kyiv.
She told Sky News’s Sunday Morning programme: “The US are part of the Nato alliance, and the Nato alliance has been very clear about the threat from Russia, not just to Ukraine, but to the whole of the alliance, to other alliance members, to the whole of Europe.
“We’ve been very clear that Ukraine’s security is also our security. It’s Europe security. It’s also UK security.
“So look, of course, we have taken a different view on the issue about the need to keep increasing sanctions, and we will continue with that.”
Her comments follow a week in which relations between the US and Ukraine have deteriorated sharply in the wake of Mr Trump’s decision to ease sanctions on Russian diesel in a bid to cut fuel prices ahead of challenging mid-term elections.
Health Secretary Yvette Cooper appearing on the Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg (Jeff Overs/BBC)
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Since then, Mr Trump has suggested Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should be replaced, declined to say whether Russia was responsible for the war and, on Friday, used his executive powers to block a major sanctions package he had previously supported.
The row has also sparked fears the US would stop intelligence sharing with Kyiv, and saw Ukraine’s access to the military component of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite communications system restricted.
Ukraine relies on Starlink to help intercept Russian missile and drone attacks, but faced speed limits earlier in the week that significantly curtailed its ability to do so.
Mr Musk has claimed the order to impose speed limits on Ukraine’s Starlink access came from Mr Trump’s administration, but the president has denied this.
The UK Government has backed Ukraine throughout the row, with Prime Minister Andy Burnham welcoming Mr Zelensky to Downing Street on Wednesday.
But ministers have also refrained from directly criticising Mr Trump, with Mr Burnham saying he needed to be “careful” in his choice of words.
Asked whether she thought Mr Trump was “wrong” to block sanctions on Russia, Ms Cooper told Sky News: “I can tell you my strong personal views around the support for Ukraine, I can tell our collective views about the Government’s support for Ukraine.
“But we do also have to recognise the crucial diplomatic role that the Prime Minister and the rest of the Government have to play in pulling everybody together in order to support Ukraine, and that’s crucial.”
Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately told the same programme: “The approach we take with Trump overall is, you know, when he does something right, say it. Say it’s right.
“When he does something wrong, say it’s wrong. I think he’s wrong in the stance he’s taking over Zelensky and Ukraine.”
Meanwhile, Russia’s bombardment of Ukraine continues, with Mr Zelensky saying on Sunday morning that two people had been killed and 12 wounded in strikes on residential areas.