Chief secretary to the Treasury says security and defence spending are a priority but require ‘trade-offs’
The UK is examining all possible options when it comes to the US president-elect Donald Trump’s approach to Ukraine, the chief secretary to the Treasury has said, as the UK’s chief of the defence staff said approximately 1,500 Russian troops were being killed and injured every day.
Whitehall officials are “considering and planning lots of different scenarios”, Darren Jones told Sky News on Sunday. During the US election campaign, Trump said he would find a solution to end the war “within a day”, but did not explain how he would do so. His vice-president nominee, JD Vance, has been vociferously opposed to providing more funds to support Ukraine.
Jones said the UK would not be stepping back from its own commitments. “We don’t want any countenance of the idea that we’re stepping back from that. That’s why we’re offering them £3bn a year, which you know, in the fiscal context here in the UK, is difficult but the right decision for us,” he said.
