British ambassador says Putin could end Ukraine war tomorrow, amid US attacks on Iran

The UK ambassador to the United States, Sir Christian Turner, told Fox that Russian President Vladimir Putin could end the war in Ukraine tomorrow if he wanted. The statement was made in an interview with presenter Martha MacCallum, on the program The Story, on the same day that Washington announced attacks against Iran and the cut of military aid to Israel.

According to a senior official interviewed by Fox, the US launched what it calls defensive strikes against Iran, after Tehran fired at an American military aircraft. The targets are on the island of Qeshm, where there is a missile base near the Strait of Hormuz. American officials say it is self-defense, not escalation.

End of aid to Israel

Also this Wednesday, President Donald Trump said that the US will end, at the end of this year, the US$4 billion in annual aid to Israel. According to him, the agreement was reached months ago with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Trump justified the decision by saying that Israel does not need the resources and that the issue is a 'bad campaign argument', the target of criticism from politicians such as Abdul El-Sayed.

In evaluating the material shown by Fox, Netanyahu had said in May that he wanted to reduce the financial component of military cooperation to zero and move from aid to partnership, with joint projects in missiles and defense.

Turner said the UK does not provide aid to Israel but maintains a long-standing security and defense alliance with the country. He said that London has already had differences with Netanyahu's government and policies in the West Bank, but that cooperation will continue.

Iran and Ukraine

Regarding Iran, the ambassador defended a diplomatic solution and stated that the country cannot have a nuclear weapon. She classified the Iranian demands as 'maximalist', which, according to the presenter, include the unfreezing of assets and control of the strait. Turner said the UK has sanctioned around 550 Iranian individuals and entities in recent years and considers the economic pressure campaign led by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to be successful.

Regarding Ukraine, Turner supported the negotiations led by envoy Steve Witkoff, which, according to Martha, should take place on November 10 and 11 in the Middle East. The ambassador asked who the aggressor was in the conflict and cited the figure of around 50,000 Russian casualties in October alone. He further stated that Putin has launched more than 120 ballistic missiles at civilian targets and Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, and that Russia needs to be kept under pressure to come to the table.

What does this mean for public accounts

The interview also touched on the topic of taxation. Turner said the UK has set a path to increase defense spending to 3.5% of GDP by 2035, which would represent around $400 billion over the next four years, he said. The challenge for politicians, he said, is to balance this spending on health, schools and social well-being.

For the market, the episode brings together two vectors of attention: the tension around the Strait of Hormuz, a sensitive region for global trade, and the growing pressure on the budgets of Western countries that need to increase military spending. The US decision to stop aid to Israel, in turn, indicates an attempt to review external spending in favor of partnerships.

Automatically translated from Portuguese.