Putin’s troops on the back foot as US aid arrives in Ukraine | Lord Ricketts

Putin’s troops on the back foot as US aid arrives in Ukraine | Lord Ricketts

probably some of these new missiles some of this ammunition is getting through now the Russians are having to be more careful about what they do former National Security adviser and UK representative to Nato Lord Peter Rickett joins us now good afternoon Peter hello Kathy just looking at the summit as a whole it was sort of nicknamed The Lame Duck Summit because so many of the leaders had well you know look at rishy sunak Emanuel macron uh you know Olaf Schultz they’re all in trouble in some way domestically um yet despite that the G7 has sort of just about pulled together haven’t they yeah I think it was probably a relief for most of them to be there actually far more fun to be in Bari if not partying at least having mishen stard Cuisine and dealing with issues where basically most people agree bit of a holiday really well they’ve got very difficult domestic situations um particularly runak but on Ukraine I think there was a unanimity Georgia Maloney although a populist right-wing prime minister is very strong on Ukraine and they were able to agree at least in principle on this $50 billion doar using the uh profits from the assets that Russia has frozen in Europe and America to fund loans to pay uh back into Ukraine so that it’s Russian uh profits on their money funding Ukraine reconstruction it’s been months and months coming Cathy I remember um David Cameron coming to talk to our Lords Committee in December saying it was urgent to get this done so it’s taken a long time and it’s not yet a fully done deal it’s a sort of issue of principle which now has to be worked through into practice but it should get some money flowing into Ukraine from early next year in practice come back to that in a second but just apart from that uh the message of sort of democratic Unity given that we’ve seen the far right making gains across Europe and the European elections was that on display yes it was uh and if you take France for example yes there was a very strong showing in the European Parliament elections for the far right but in France all the um foreign policy security policy leevers are in the president’s hands so mackerel uh is not at all put off course by that uh and it’s one area where they can all agree support for Ukraine economic support more Military Support this is all in the runup to a NATO Summit in a few weeks time in Washington so yeah this was an area where I think it was pretty easy for that group Group of Seven leaders to get together and agree and what happens I’ve I’ve seen the deal described the Ukraine deal described as sort of trump proof what does happen if Donald Trump wins can he unpick it I mean there are two things going on there’s there’s $50 billion dollar used uh from the proceeds of Russian frozen assets I mean that I think the idea is to try and get that into legal text get the loans out there syndicated get the money beginning to flow before the Trump presidency might come into office the endof year deadline seems to be not a coincidence from that point of view there’s another thing which is this 10-year security pact that the US have signed with Ukraine more arms more defense cooperation more training defense industrial uh that 10-year deal feels to me something that a incoming Trump Administration could unstitch and so I’m not sure that a bank manager would accept a 10-year deal from an American president facing an election in a few months time it’s a you it’s a it’s a um gesture of solidarity and of determination if Biden were reelected but I don’t think zalinsky can count his chickens on that one yet yeah not not entirely Trump proof then after all not entirely Trump proof I think the 50 billion I think it’s designed to be partly Trump proof and partly because I think the loans are going to be made by individual countries to be EU proof in the sense that youve got Victor Orban sitting in the EU who might well try and veto an eu-wide scheme to use this money for Ukraine but I think it by being individual countries underwriting the loans I think that perhaps tries to get around the EU problem and then Biden’s trying to get around the Trump problem so this thing is trying to be squeezed in before anybody else can um Can trip it up and and someon ke had wanted the G7 to release the whole Frozen fund of $300 billion um I mean that was never going to happen was it the European Central Bank kiboshed it but ke can be pretty happy with this do you think I think so I mean I think zelinski’s had a good outing there he’s come back with more funds uh with a stronger commitment from Biden to continue to support them militarily um even saw the pope and had prayers from the pope so yes I think this has been a good outing for sininsky I think his appearance at the NATO Summit will be tougher for him because there he wants um an invitation to join NATO he won’t get the invitation so he’s going to get that know but it’s going to be wrapped up with a great deal of wrapping in terms of as much practical support as possible and this is a first step towards that and an important one and is there a sign that some of the extra Aid that has started to arrive from the US is is there any sign that the The Tide is being turned in the military offensive I noticed a an interesting article in the times this morning suggesting that there had been a sort of change in in the military strategy that ke was able to deploy I think it’s beginning to I I’m not an expert on exactly where the is but I think that sense that the Russians were moving forward driving the ukrainians back that has been halted I think or at least slowed so it’s more like a stalemate along the front line uh which is certainly better for Ukraine than the idea that they were having to give ground and I think probably some of these new missiles some of this ammunition is getting through now the Russians are having to be more careful about what they do because if they Mass their troops then the ukrainians can attack them so I think we’re beginning to see the effect of that y we had an immediate moral all I think on the ground as well and and just finally just looking at some of the body language and the kind of you know the way rishy sunet was greeted by Georgia Maloney for example um you know he’s also been pictured with n narandra Modi but he cut a slightly isolated figure elsewhere didn’t he yes he did I mean I think politicians you know they they have a sense that you know when a colleague is facing elections and they’re badly behind that does change a little bit the the body language um everybody is now waiting to see what happens on the 4th of July because he had that awkward business about not showing up to the international ceremony at D-Day being absent from the great photograph with the the Western leaders yeah I don’t think there’s a feeling that he’s a guy who’s you know facing a cliff back home he’s up against it I was probably enjoying being away from it for a day but Democratic politicians are very aware of the you know of that sort of background uh to an individual leader so I think you people are sort of um you know now waiting to see what happens and not probably investing a great deal in relations with um ri zunac right now and we saw K starma had put that photo of him and zilinsky from the D-Day celebrations um in his Manifesto already uh this week so what just a final thought if you would in three weeks time it could be K starma rushing off to these G7 Summits how do you think he’ll handle himself in this kind of international diplomatic field well I think he’s been preparing for it um the NATO Summit I think starts four days after the UK election so whoever is a new prime minister if it’s some he’s going to be on a plane very rapidly to Washington um and sitting literally alongside the table with Joe Biden at that important Summit two weeks later he’s got all the European leaders assembling at plenum Palace for a European Summit wider than than just the EU in the UK an opportunity from to to convene to um chair the meeting to come out with a conclusion So within a month of being in office I think he will have been established as a leader we’ll see how well he rises to that but British parliamentarians usually pretty good at um playing a room organizing a discussion coming out with a consensual text so I you know I would expect he would do pretty well in that fascinating Peter rickets Lord rickets thank you very much for joining us for

American aid is arriving into Ukraine, forcing Putin’s troops to be more cautious in their use of munitions, says Lord Ricketts.

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