Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay has called for Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK to be a joint one with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Last week, prime minister Keir Starmer issued a formal invite to Trump for him to have a second state visit to the UK later this year.
But since then, the US president has caused fury amongst European powers with his attacks on Zelensky and seeming lack of support for Ukraine in their war against Russia.
Appearing on Question Time last night, Green co-leader Ramsay suggested the prime minister should issue an ultimatum to Trump, and tell him that he can only come on the state visit to London if it is a joint visit with Zelensky.
The Waveney Valley MP said: “What’s been reinforced in the last week is Trump’s politics are driven by his petulance, not by principles. We need to absolutely focus on making sure that the people of Ukraine and the lasting peace we need to see in Ukraine must be front and centre of any peace deal. It’s got to be sustained and it’s got to be negotiated.
“My real worry about the direction Trump has gone in, backed by far-right backers like Farage, is that they are supporting the dictator Putin, they are not supporting the rights of Ukraine and the security of Europe.
“We need to make sure Ukraine is not sold down the river here, because Trump is approaching this like it’s a business deal. We need to stand up to that.
He continued: “And we have got chips here actually, because if Trump’s so excited by the idea of a state visit, maybe the prime minister should be saying ‘okay, maybe you can do that, but it needs to be a joint-visit with the war hero President Zelensky’, and then we’ll show we’re really on the side of Ukraine.”
This week, the US halted all military aid to Ukraine and has also banned the UK from sharing any US military intelligence with the eastern European nation.
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