UK

David Cameron suggests Ukraine can use British weapons to strike troops inside Russia

UK’s foreign secretary also insists relations with Ireland are ‘improving’ despite setbacks

Britain's foreign secretary David Cameron speaks during a press briefing at the Foreign Press Association in central London. Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images

Mark Paul London Correspondent
Thu Jun 13 2024 - 16:41

Ukraine has “the right” to use weapons supplied by Britain to strike invading Russian troops while they are still on Russian soil, the UK’s foreign secretary Lord David Cameron has suggested. He said on Thursday that it “makes perfect sense” for Ukraine to use its weaponry to attack Russian troops across the border.

He said Britain “never discusses the caveats we put on [the use of] weapons” that it supplies to Ukraine. “But it is quite clear in international law that [it] has the right to strike Russian troops as they are lining up to come into Ukraine.”

Speaking to a gathering of the Foreign Press Association (FPA) in London on Thursday morning, Mr Cameron said Britain, which is Ukraine’s biggest weapons supplier after the US, had committed to providing it with “£3 billion of assistance this year, next year, and for as many [more] years as it is necessary” for Ukraine to push back the Russian advance.

As world leaders began to gather in Italy for a G7 meeting, Mr Cameron said Britain had two main objectives for the gathering, both of which related to Ukraine. The first was to get agreement on “really tough sanctions on Russian individuals and companies”. He said that later on Thursday Britain would announce measures against companies that “supply the Russian war machine” with dual-use goods to get around western sanctions.

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Mr Cameron said new sanctions to be announced by the Tory government would not be limited to companies operating in Britain, but would extend to entities in China, Kurdistan, Turkey and Israel. He also said Britain and its allies would “go after the shadow fleet of tankers” moving Russian oil around the world in violation of sanctions.

The second thing he said Britain was seeking at the G7 was agreement on a “windfall-plus” strategy to use frozen Russian financial assets to provide the funding for Ukraine to meet interest repayments on its loans.

Mr Cameron also discussed the UK’s relations with the European Union, including Ireland, at the press gathering in the Royal Overseas League (ROSL) club in London’s West End. He said the European front had been the “quietest” part of his portfolio since his return to government as foreign secretary last November.

He highlighted Britain’s re-entry to the EU’s Horizon science programme and the negotiation of the Windsor Framework, which dealt with trade issues between the Britain and Ireland, as evidence that relations with the EU were improving.

On the Republic he said relations were “growing again” and ongoing issues were being “worked through”; there were fresh disagreements recently between the two governments over Rockall and the impact of the UKs Rwanda migration scheme.

The event at the ROSL was likely Mr Cameron’s final outing with the foreign press in London before the July 4th general election, after which polls suggest the Tories will hand over power to Labour. Earlier on Thursday he called Craig Williams, an MP who is one of UK prime minister Rishi Sunak’s closest aides, “very foolish” for placing a bet at Ladbrokes on a July election just three days before Mr Sunak called the unexpected snap poll.

Mr Williams’ bet is now being investigated by the UK’s Gambling Commission after it was flagged by Ladbrokes. It is illegal to place bets if they are made using inside information. Mr Williams acknowledged he “should have thought how it looks”.

Mark Paul

Mark Paul

Mark Paul is London Correspondent for The Irish Times

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