Davey presses Burnham on Trump Russia sanctions reversal in Commons
At his weekly question time in the House of Commons the same day, Burnham offered what he called his “unwavering” support for Zelensky and promised greater military and financial aid in future. The sharpest exchange over Trump’s Russia reversal came from Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, who noted that Burnham had “studiously avoided” commenting on Trump’s decision to lift international sanctions on Russia.
“This House does deserve to know his position, as does frankly President Zelensky and our brave Ukrainian allies,” Davey told MPs. “Doesn’t he agree this is yet another shameful Trump betrayal of the Ukrainian people and European security?”
Burnham called it a “very dark and difficult moment” for Zelensky, who was “carrying the heaviest of weights,” but declined Davey’s invitation to criticise Trump. “What I have to do in my role is try and repair bridges so that the support comes back and therefore I should, at this moment in time, be careful in terms of laying the ground to bring people back together,” Burnham told MPs. “That is the role I intend to play — it’s the right role for me to play — in this moment. I will listen to President Zelensky carefully but he won’t be going away from Britain today empty handed.”
Zelensky was due to travel on to Brussels the following day, continuing a push to shore up support among European allies. Burnham pointed to the UK’s mediation role after the February 2025 Oval Office falling out between Trump and Zelensky, when national security adviser Jonathan Powell shuttled between Washington and Kyiv to calm the row. Burnham signalled he hoped the UK could play a similar bridge-building role now.
For months before last week, Trump had been a largely benign presence in the conflict, promising Ukraine greater access to American air defence technology and threatening more sanctions on Russia. The diplomatic choreography at Downing Street on Wednesday was deliberate: Downing Street had issued an embargoed press notice overnight with warm words of support for Zelensky, and Burnham sought to say and announce as much as he could without exposing himself to questions from journalists about Trump’s latest “betrayal” of Kyiv.
The war is now in its fifth year, and for millions of Ukrainians facing a grim winter potentially with less US support than before, the bridge-building task could not be more urgent.