A cabinet minister avoided responding directly to questions comparing Donald Trump’s interventions on Ukraine with World War 2 appeasement today.
The US president agreed to start peace negotiations with Vladimir Putin earlier this week.
The White House already appears to have given the Russian leader everything he was hoping for in return for stopping the war which he started back in 2022 – including forcing Kyiv to cede occupied territory to Moscow.
Trump’s words are in stark contrast to Keir Starmer’s, who has made it clear Putin is still the aggressor although the prime minister stopped short of criticising the US president himself.
And his technology secretary took the same approach this morning.
On LBC, presenter Nick Ferrari asked Peter Kyle if he agreed with the claims that Trump is just appeasing Putin, like Britain did with Adolf Hitler in 1938.
Ferrari said: “There are allegations that Donald Trump is effectively selling out Ukraine as a form of Munich Accord we saw with Neville Chamberlain.
“How accurate is that in your view?”
Kyle began by saying he was at the Munich Security Conference where Britain was talking about the “emerging threats”.
He continued: “You talk about the 1930s, well that’s a warning we need to always have an eye on the future.
“When it comes to Ukraine, Britain has stood by Ukraine and President Zelenskyy from the very start, the best way to end the war today is the best way since day one – Vladimir Putin ends this illegal war that he started and he started alone.
“That’s unlikely to happen but that does mean that any negotiated settlement needs to have the voice of President Zelenskyy.”
Kyle also said he, defence secretary John Healey and foreign secretary David Lammy would be there in Munich to listen to Zelenskyy who is also at the summit.
So Ferrari asked again: “But secretary of state do you support the idea that has been seen in some sections of the media that this is like World War 2 appeasement?”
Kyle dodged the question once more, and replied: “What was also said by the US defence secretary yesterday is that everything is on the table.
“We need to act coolly and calmly going forward, and listen to what President Zelenskyy says he needs and be there to support him for it.
“It is great that we have a US president who is now so dedicated to bringing this war to an end.”
He added that the conference is a “crucial opportunity” worth seizing with “both hands”.
Kyle avoided insulting Trump again on Times Radio too, when presenter Chloe Tilley asked if it was right the president is reportedly going to be deciding who is at the negotiating table when it comes to deciding how to end a war in Ukraine.
Kyle said: “I’m not interested in who decides.”
Tilley replied: “Really? So it doesn’t matter if Ukraine doesn’t decide?”
Kyle said: “We are very interested in who is at that table. The important thing is that President Zelenskyy is at it.
“Right now that is what we are primarily concerned about. It is extraordinarily important bearing in mind the suffering that Ukraine has been put through.
“The people of Ukraine, the country of Ukraine and its integrity as a sovereign nation has been under threat.
“It has been invaded, it has been through hell. They have the right to be at the table and if we are to deliver a sustainable peace there it would be inconceivable that that peace could be delivered without their voice being heard.”