To think Britain should have nothing to do with this war

[Foodtimeisit]

After yesterday's news, Britain shouldn't be the one funding war as USA has said they are out now. There's no chance Britain can fight this war alone with Ukraine against Russia.
Since this war started, our life has only become miserable with CoL increase.
AIBU to think we shouldn't have anything to do this war and we should fix our own problems first before giving away our tax money?

Those minerals are essential for many industries eg EV batteries, mobile phones etc. this article provided more details: <a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20le8jn282o" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20le8jn282o.amp

And yes it is to give the US an advantage to complete which China. China currently has more access to those essential minerals locally in China and through loan deals in Africa etc increasing dependency on China.

Apple just announced plans to bring back some of it's manufacturing back to the US and Trump has been putting pressure on other American companies to do the same so this is part of that larger picture. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/02/apple-will-spend-more-than-500-billion-usd-in-the-us-over-the-next-four-years/

It is also has two goals, gives the US access to these essential minerals and also helps fund Ukraine's development and rebuilding. They will also benefit because it's a 50:50 share of revenue with the US providing the investment required for the infrastructure. Ukraine cannot afford to rebuild its infrastructure without support.

As for Europe, I saw something about the EU also trying to get an agreement but remains to be seen how that plays out.

Ukraine is not in the EU.

Ukraine would never do for UK citizens, what the UK has done for theirs.

The USA is right to want stop its taxypayer money on this war and likewise, we should stay out of it and not get involved.

We should stop supplying money, support and weapons - thats stuff the UK can use for ourselves.

If only it were that simple ......

@Ilovelifeverymuch
That too. But to pump up his ego, to line up the pockets of his cronies, strengthen his position as GOP leader. You said it yourself, he has been vocal about not wanting to support Ukraine anymore. Trump is a selfish narcissist, everything he does is for his own good only.
Wouldn’t put it past him wanting Greenland for himself. I mean after building the Gaza Riviera, he will want to expand his enterprise elsewhere, won’t he?

From the BBC

UK to loan Ukraine £2.26bn to bolster defence

The UK and Ukraine have agreed a £2.26bn loan to support Ukraine's defence capabilities, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko says.

Volodymyr Zelensky and Sir Keir Starmer, together with Chancellor Rachel Reeves, held a video call with Marchenko this evening.

Marchenko wrote on social media that the funds are "ensured by frozen Russian assets".

He added that he was "grateful" to the UK for "holding the aggressor accountable for the war".

I never said he was vocal about not supporting Ukraine , you're picking and choosing to fit your narrative.

He has been very clear that he wants the war to end for two reasons, to stop the killing and stop the spending of billions of dollars. He has been clear that it's a stalemate and Ukraine cannot win without NATO boots on the ground and that will be WWIII which I'm sure none of us want so the options are continue fighting and spending billions in the hope Russia runs out of money and men or Putin dies, or negotiate a peace agreement with EU and US backing.

In this agreement no one will get everything they want, Ukraine will not join NATO because that's a no no for Putin but they will have US and EU backing, and don't forget that Putin is also more surrounded by NATO after Sweden and Finland joined.

Also don't forget that after all the billions spent fighting Ukraine will need billions more to rebuild. Makes no sense to keep fighting a proxy war when there no clear path to victory.

Does he have an ego, hell yeah but he has also been very clear the US is his priority, is it selfish, yeah sure but he has been consistent.

If you look at history then US has always gone through periods of isolationist policies then open up then go isolationist again. They were reluctant to enter the last world war until Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. There are stories of Churchill being very frustrated and trying different schemes to try to get the US to get involved and help

Mid century? Surely earlier than that…

The US is not going to fight on two continents any more. It is the last nation that can do so, since WW2. That is a withdrawal of an existing well proved ability. Combine that with what is an emerging US policy of America First, then a probable scenario is the US will not intervene with any Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Why should it, taking into account the rise in chip production now elsewhere. Likewise, under a Trump administration (or his like successors) we could see the US withdraw from NATO - and this could happen tomorrow. Trump could see the world as polarised into the Americas (north and south), Russia/ Europe and Asia. Africa will be played out, but Europe will not play any part in that continent.

With the Chinese belt and rail programme in place, with Russia and Iranian support, there is no 'beautiful ocean' between what might be the last bastion of democracy we shall know. It is legitimate to play out a scenario where a withdrawn US will weaken Europe allowing Chinese imperialism to extend into the West via land and air, leveraging on Russia and Iran.

as @HelplessSoul says

Ukraine is not in the EU.
Ukraine would never do for UK citizens, what the UK has done for theirs.

I would add

Ukraine is not in NATO

We have done what we can, and more than most. We need to stop wasting our munitions.

Well, yes but I couldn't think of a tidier way of saying it. But yes, early 20th century and then moving on......

It's actually quite depressing when you think of the entire 20th century really.

And what happens when that loan is used up? It’s not going to last long. Another loan which, let’s be honest, is never going to be repaid. Because even if Ukraine by some miracle win this war, they are going to be left with a pile of rubble, and billions of pounds needed to rebuild the country. Neither side is going to give in. So we’re in for a long, long war. For every pound given to the Ukrainians by the West, there’ll be equal amounts of money, and more, going to Russia from China and the Middle East. And so on and on it goes.

Nope. We’re members of NATO it won’t happen.

With the £2.6 billion loan, I hope people understand that it's never coming back and it would be a deficit which us and our children will be paying by their taxes to fill and many years to come. We are in no state to keep funding this never ending war.

NATO means as much as the Budapest memorandum now, so nothing.

Paid for by frozen Russian assets

Why wasn't that money available when our pensioners were choosing between heating and eating or now when our NHS is on its knees?

Those funds are linked to frozen Russian assets, as part what are called Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration Loans.

The loan will be repaid using the extraordinary profits on those Russian assets, £236bn of which are in Europe alone.

The G7 - a group of seven wealthy democracies including the UK and US - announced $50bn for Ukraine using this type of loan last year, to be paid over time until the end of 2027.

How does this money to fund war miraculously appears while there's no money to give pay rise to our nurses and emergency staff or the teachers?

@Ilovelifeverymuch
No. Trump only cares about Trump. He doesn’t care about Ukrainians dying.
Ukraine already signed a treaty in 1994 when they agreed to give up their nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees. This was violated when Putin invaded Crimea in 2014.
If nobody stopped Putin then, who is going to stop him violating a new treaty?
Your mate Trump? Don’t think so.
Trump thinks he can carve a bit of Ukraine for himself (the minerals) and it is his only motivation. And in case you get confused again. By himself I mean him, his corrupt billionaire mates, MAGA hotshots, etc.

We simply need to prioritise our British people first over any one else or any other cause.

Did you want the goverment to loan money to the NHS, schools?

Because it’s not our money.

Yes...also it's not only bombs dropping on Britain that we need to worry about. It's fuel, food, goods etc. Britain isn't self sufficient in anything and our politicians are more interested in reducing our food producing capability in the name of the environment that safeguarding it. If there's a big war it's going to mean extreme hardship even if we aren't directly involved. Much better to preserve the current world order than allow Russia and potentially China to become the leaders of the world

There was no money until Labour came to power and the pay rises were then given. I for one am happy to pay taxes for this. The Conservative government would not negotiate, hence the strikes.