David Cameron rejects Trump’s ‘peace plan’ as he warns against ‘appeasing’ Putin

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David Cameron has rejected Donald Trump’s apparent plan for peace in Ukraine and warned against “appeasing” Putin just days after his surprise meeting with the former US president.

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky also slated the idea to give up swathes of territory to Russia, branding it “primitive”.

The foreign secretary, who was the last day of his trip to the US to push for more funding to Ukraine, said a show of “strength” rather than “appeasement and weakness” would bring the conflict to a halt.

Mr Cameron has defended his face-to-face meeting with Mr Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, which came after he previously called him “xenophobic, [and] misogynistic”.

But he appears to have been snubbed by a key Trump ally, House speaker Mike Johnson, as he met US politicians to urge them to support Ukraine’s war effort.

His comments came as:

• The top US general in Europe warned Congress that Ukraine will run out of artillery shells and air defence interceptors “in fairly short order” without American support
• The Bishop for Ukraine in London urged the US and the UK to “honour their pledges” and not forget that Ukraine is fighting Russia to save the “rule of law and democracy”, in a major intervention
• Russian air strikes on Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region hit a clinic and a pharmacy, killing at least three people

Asked how the UK would feel about a peace settlement that would see Ukraine cede territory such as Crimea to Putin, Lord Cameron told CNN: “Everyone wants to see an end to the killing and an end to the war… But you only get that by backing Ukraine, by showing strength.

“Peace comes through strength, not through appeasement and weakness.”

Similar language has previously provoked the ire of senior Republicans.

Earlier this year, he warned Congress not to show “the weakness displayed against Hitler” in the 1930s.

In return right-wing congresswoman and staunch Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene told him to “kiss my ass” and “worry about his own country”.

In a message to Republicans, the ex-prime minister also said funding for the war effort would be good for US jobs and security and show the West was prepared to stand up to “bullies”.

Mr Trump, who hopes to become President again in November, is reportedly prepared to pressure Ukraine to give up Crimea and the Donbas border region to Russia to secure a peace agreement, according to the Washington Post.

Asked about Mr Trump’s idea, Lord Cameron added: “I don’t think we should be discussing those things right now, we should be discussing how do we get Ukraine back on the front foot.

“They’ve showed incredible bravery. They’ve showed that they can win against Putin, they’re not going to lose for lack of morale, they’re not going to lose for lack of ingenuity on the battlefield.

“The only way they can lose is if we don’t give them the support they deserve.”

Lord Cameron said last week that he planned to discuss the funding with Mr Johnson, who must decide when to put the Ukraine package to a vote.

But the two men have not met on the trip.

Lord Cameron also warned decisions on Ukraine cannot be delayed until after November’s election.

“There’s a risk that Ukraine will lose more ground to Putin, and no one wants to be in a situation in November, where we could have acted, we could have helped, we could have beaten back Putin, we could have started the process of getting a Ukraine win and getting a just peace but we failed to do that,” he said.

Separately, the Ukrainian president warned ceding territory would pave the way for more Russian aggression.

“If the deal is that we just give up our territories, and that’s the idea behind it, then it’s a very primitive idea,” Mr Zelensky told Politico.

“I don’t need a fantastic idea, I need a real idea, because people’s lives are at stake.”

Meanwhile, Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski said Ukraine was not asking for soldiers on the ground but simply for funding to continue its fight against Putin.

“This is not just a battle for Ukraine,” the bishop told The Independent. “It is the battle for rule of law, democracy and freedoms that we have all taken advantage of. That we stand to lose.

“The challenge for us moving forward is to ensure that those in the US, here and the west continue to encourage politicians to honour their pledges.”

The Trump campaign has been aproached for comment.

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