The Armed Forces minister has said the responsibility to end the war in Ukraine "is solely on Putin", as Russia and Ukraine agree to a Black Sea ceasefire deal. Luke Pollard adds, "we will continue to support our friends in Ukraine to guarantee their freedom and sovereignty for as long as it takes". On the leaked White House Signal messages criticising Europe, Pollard says President Donald Trump is "right" to call on European countries to step up on defence spending. Report by Brooksl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Well, I think everyone in Ukraine wants to see an end to the fighting, and as a country
00:05that's a strong supporter of Ukraine, we need to keep them in the fight today.
00:10But we also need to be absolutely clear that the ball is now firmly in Russia's court.
00:15President Putin could end this illegal war today if he withdrew his forces, but he could
00:20also honour the agreements that he has made with Ukraine.
00:24So we're watching carefully, but let's be in no doubt that the responsibility to end
00:28this fighting is solely on Putin, and we will continue supporting our friends in Ukraine
00:33to guarantee their freedom and sovereignty for as long as it takes.
00:38Well, the UK has a deep and enduring security relationship with the US, and that won't change.
00:44But where the President is right is that we will need to step up our support.
00:49We are spending more on defence.
00:51We are stepping up our support on Ukraine.
00:53We are continuing to work with our American friends in support of their missions to make
00:59sure that we're keeping our continent safe.
01:01But that deep security relationship that we have with America that has provided peace
01:07large on our continent since the end of the Second World War is one that this government
01:11is firmly invested in and brings benefits not just to the United Kingdom and our allies,
01:16but also the United States as well.
01:17And that's why it will continue.