World leaders are currently at the United Nations headquarters in New York, and we have been listening to Lord David Cameron’s speeches to the General Assembly and the Security Council.
He described the foreign secretary’s addresses as “strong” and “blunt”, adding that “you get the sense that that he has more confidence than other British foreign secretaries of late”.
His passionate speeches were not meant purely to put Russia on the back foot, however, Stone explained, as the real message was meant for America.
“The real problem right now is America’s funding of Ukraine,” he said.
“They are not doing that at the moment because of a particular wing of the Republican Party supported by Donald Trump, who do not believe that this is a war is worth fighting,” referring to the US aid bill currently stuck in Congress.
The bill, worth some $95bn (£75bn), was approved by the Democrat-led Senate on 13 February, but is likely to face stiff opposition in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
Both houses of Congress must approve the bill before President Biden can sign it into law.
Some $60bn (£47bn) of the package is allocated for military aid for Ukraine alone.
However, former president Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress want funding directed toward domestic issues such as border control, rather than on foreign wars.
“In simple terms, they believe that security begins at home, that it is a faraway war and that the focus should be America’s domestic concerns,” Stone said.
“So, the clear message [from Cameron] was to politicians down in Congress to pass this bill, to get money to allow Ukraine to continue to fight this war.”
