There couldn’t be more stark contrast between the two meetings at the White House last week: on Thursday Keir Starmer could not have been more obsequious as, fresh from announcing an increase in defence spending at the expense of overseas aid, he handed Donald Trump an invitation for an unprecedented second state visit, where the monster will be feted by royalty and Labour ministers. Then on Friday the one time darling of the ‘free world’ Volodymyr Zelensky was subject to a brutal bullying attack by the US president and vice president which showed in public how the US treats its supposed allies in private.
There is a great deal that could be said about what this tells us of the various actors here. But both events symbolise aspects of the big change in relations between the major imperialist powers that we have witnessed over recent weeks. Trump, Vance, Rubio and the rest see the total isolation of Russia as pushing it closer to China, which they perceive as the biggest threat to the US. In dealing directly with Russia and to start doing business with it once again the US hopes to prevent that. Part of this, as Trump sees it, is ending the war in Ukraine through peace talks with Russia.
The war has always been a proxy war between Russia and Nato. The west has backed Ukraine at every level, pouring arms into the country, but it is clear that Ukraine is losing the war. It has been widely acknowledged that there would have to be some sort of peace talks probably this year. Now Trump has short circuited that process and has made it clear to Zelensky that he will no longer receive the backing of the US militarily and financially, in the most demeaning and insulting terms.
Starmer is of course horrified at this development, especially since it contrasts so strongly with Trump’s delight at his own fawning the day before. More than that though, it puts him in a very tight place – fresh from a 100 year agreement of support for Ukraine, having called another meaningless international summit in London this weekend, and totally reliant on Trump’s patronage – he has to navigate looking like he supports Ukraine to the bitter end while not upsetting Trump.
The truth is that Britain has little to offer Ukraine militarily or economically, and the Nato proxy war simply can’t be prosecuted without the US, particularly its air cover. The grand talk from British and EU leaders about sticking with Ukraine is empty talk without this. Hence, despite the extreme distaste for Trump, Starmer has announced that he and the French president Macron will work with Ukraine on a plan to ‘stop the fighting’, which they will then discuss with the US. Doesn’t exactly sound like being with Ukraine to the end does it?
Not only that, but there is also a lot of talk that Zelensky shouldn’t have provoked Trump and Vance or that he should apologise in order to get a deal where the US takes huge quantities of Ukraine’s mineral wealth in exchange for military support. Britain and the European powers cannot break with the US – not least because their ‘defence’ is intricately connected with the major imperialism – but they are desperate to find some sort of role in this crisis. Hence Britain and France still talking about sending ‘peacekeeping’ troops into Ukraine after a deal.
Europe is being sidelined as Trump tries to develop relations with Russia to aid his greater pivot towards China. But the European countries are talking peace while preparing for war. A declining empire which has torn up the whole basis of postwar western military policy is dangerous indeed. So too is our prime minister, representing a fading economic and imperial power, who is fuelling militarism and war for his own agenda.
Starmer’s decision to raise spending on defence is being echoed across Europe. Trump has been urging this course for a long time, demanding that the continent pays for its own defence and stops ‘freeloading’ on the US. Vance’s demand that Zelesnky should say thank you for US ‘help’ gives the mindset here. There is not a single US base, fighter plane or missile in Europe which is there for any other reason than that they help US interests. If those interests have now changed, that is the reason for withdrawal, not anything else. And let’s see how many of the US bases in Britain, Germany, Belgium, Italy and elsewhere actually do close -none is my prediction.
Britain is already one of the biggest spenders worldwide on the military. As part of Nato it has the resources of by far the largest military alliance in the world. It has nuclear weapons, as do its Nato allies the US and France. It is increasing its nuclear warhead stockpiles and the US is once again siting nuclear weapons at Lakenheath air base in Suffolk. We have been told repeatedly that we need the nuclear ‘deterrent’ in order to defend ourselves from Russia. Now – as well as renewing the Trident nuclear submarine system – we are told we need much more spending on conventional weaponry and troops.
Starmer’s increases – to effectively 2.6% in two years and then to 3% in five – are at the expense of overseas aid, which will have horrendous consequences for some of the poorest and most desperate people in the world. That triggered minister Anneliese Dodds’ resignation on Friday, although she obviously had no problem with the rise in arms spending. But we know it isn’t going to end here. Already Kemi Badenoch has called for 3% increase in this parliament. Where will the money for all this come from? Working class people of course, either through cuts to our services and health care, or through higher taxation, or probably both.
I completely opposed Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and oppose any aggression from him in Europe. But his economy is the size of Spain, he is vastly outnumbered militarily by Nato powers. He has barely occupied 18% of Ukraine and is quite incapable of managing a Hitler-like invasion of Europe. The constant references by establishment politicians to Churchill, Munich and so on – most of them based on ignorance – are using the Second World War not to promote peace but more war.
This is exactly what the new worldwide arms race is doing, and Starmer is its biggest cheerleader. The left who support this move to produce guns not butter, in a society where living standards are falling and basic services failing, are being conned into the idea that we have something in common with our own ruling class here. We don’t and they don’t give a damn about our security. They care only about their place in the imperialist order and will take us all to hell if necessary to maintain it. Time to organise for welfare not warfare.
Source: Counterfire