Theresa May has accused Russia of undermining western democracies, disregarding global norms and damaging western interests around the world. Speaking in the House of Commons before Donald Trump's joint press conference with Vladimir Putin, the prime minister said she welcomed their meeting in Helsinki.
“But as I agreed with President Trump in our discussions last week, we must engage from a position of unity and strength. This means being clear and unwavering about where Russia needs to change its behaviour. And for as long as Russia persists in its efforts to undermine our interests and values, we must continue to deter and counter them,” she said.
Ms May said Russia’s alleged use of a nerve agent in Salisbury, which killed one person and required three others to be hospitalised, was part of a well-established pattern of behaviour.
"In recent years we have seen Russia stepping up its arms sales to Iran; shielding the Syrian regime's barbaric use of chemical weapons; launching cyber-attacks that have caused economic damage; and spreading malicious and fake news stories on an industrial scale," she said.
Nato spending
The prime minister was making a statement on last week’s Nato summit in Brussels and she praised Mr Trump for helping to persuade other members of the alliance to spend more on defence.
“We share his view that we want to see allies all stepping up to meet the commitment they gave at the summit in Wales in 2014 to spend 2 per cent of their GDP on defence and 20 per cent of that on equipment,” she said.
"It's something we meet and a limited number of other members of Nato meet – including the United States of America. His making this point about burden sharing has made a difference. Just in the last year, we've seen an extra $41 billion added to defence budgets across the Nato allies, and there was a real sense at this summit following the discussion that he initiated that we would see people not just stepping up in terms of going to meet their 2 per cent, but seeing that there was an increased urgency in doing this."
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the summit had been dominated by the US president's "erratic statements", adding that British policy should not be outsourced to "the whims of Washington". He said that although Nato prided itself on being a guarantor of freedom and security, some of its own member states failed to live up to the highest standards.
“The rise in authoritarianism and the suppression of basic human rights in many countries should be of great concern,” he said.
