Veterans Minister: Ukrainians decide the future of their country, not Trump administration
Veterans Minister Al Carns believes it's down to the Ukrainians to decide the future of their country, amid concerns a Trump administration could cut military aid to Ukraine.
The former colonel in the Royal Marines told BFBS Forces News that after standing shoulder-to-shoulder with American personnel on multiple operations over the last 24 years, he thinks the UK will continue to have a great relationship and strong alliance with the US going forward.
Mr Trump's re-election has, however, raised uncertainty on whether he could cut US aid and attempt to force Kyiv to cede territory to Russia.
When asked if any potential US removal or slowing down of military aid would influence the UK's support, Mr Carns insisted speculation would not help.
"I think there's lots of speculation at the moment," Mr Carns said.
"I would say that speculation only really helps one person, and that's Vladamir Putin."
On Mr Trump's administration plans, he added: "We haven't seen anything, we haven't heard anything, we know he's had a discussion with Putin, where he has pushed him hard not to escalate, which is a good thing.
"But the only reason this invasion took place, the only reason we've had in excess of one million casualties, is because Putin decided to invade an independent and democratic country on the edge of Europe."
Ukraine's future
Mr Carns added: "Whatever happens with Ukraine's future will signal to the rest of the world how the West reacts and how committed we are to fighting for freedom.
"It's one I know the US administration will be thinking about as they move forward, what signal does the future of Ukraine mean for the rest of the world."
When asked how the UK could convince the public that more money needs to be invested in defence, Mr Carns highlighted that connections to defence as a population were probably "less now than it ever has been".
"We need to bring it back together," he insisted.
Defence spending
Mr Carns added: "We've got to educate and remember and make sure that the country understands that the freedoms we have today are primarily protected by defence and our security organisations.
"First of all, it's rekindling and reconnecting that relationship.
"Secondly, as we move forward to defence spending, and this government is absolutely committed to increasing defence, we've already increased it to £3bn for next year and it's going to go further."
Mr Carns noted that the Strategic Defence Review is "absolutely essential" for working out how the Armed Forces would fight a future war.
"I've just talked to a couple of people where we look across to the East and tie some of the lessons from Ukraine back into the UK.
"I would argue that Ukraine has demonstrated a machine gun moment for the Army, a submarine moment for the Navy and a jet engine movement for the Air Force.
"We have got to learn those lessons, work out how we are going to spend it, get more bang for buck before we push for more money."
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