LONDON — British Foreign Secretary David Cameron is expected to urge U.S. lawmakers to approve a new package of aid for Ukraine when he visits Washington this week, warning Congress that it is putting the security of the West at risk by continuing to hold up the funding.
The trip is a chance for Cameron to personally deliver the message he posted on social media last week in which he called on Western leaders to put pressure on House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republicans in Congress to approve additional aid for Ukraine, as Britain and the European Union have already done.
“Speaker Johnson can make it happen in Congress,” Cameron said in a video posted on social media platform X. “I’m going to go and see him next week and say, ‘Ukraine needs that money. It is American security, it’s European security, it’s Britain’s security that’s on the line in Ukraine, and they need our help.’”
A $95 billion aid package for Ukraine has been bogged down in the House of Representatives for months as populist conservatives seek to block further funding for the two-year-old conflict and some mainstream Republicans demand concessions on border security before supporting the bill.
Cameron’s trip to Washington comes after he and his French counterpart, Stéphane Séjourné, issued a joint rallying cry on Monday for Ukraine’s allies to come up with more funding.
Their article, published in Britain’s Daily Telegraph, marks 120 years of the Entente Cordiale, a series of agreements between France and the U.K. that paved the way for improved cross-Channel relations.
“We are both absolutely clear — Ukraine must win this war. If Ukraine loses, we all lose,” the pair wrote. “The costs of failing to support Ukraine now will be far greater than the costs of repelling (Russian leader Vladimir) Putin.
France and Britain marked the Entente Cordiale with joint military ceremonies in Paris and London, emphasizing the long history of cooperation despite the upheaval caused by Britain’s departure from the European Union.