Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene claimed the British government “are going to start” a world war after Britain’s defense minister spoke of plans to deploy military instructors to Ukraine.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Britain and its allies have avoided a formal military presence in the country to limit the risk of a direct conflict with Russia.
But in a newspaper interview, British defense minister Grant Shapps said he had held talks with his country’s military leaders about providing training in Ukraine and re-locating some manufacturing into the country.
“I was talking today about eventually getting the training brought closer and actually into Ukraine,” he was quoted as saying in The Telegraph newspaper.
“Particularly in the west of the country, I think the opportunity now is to bring more things ‘in country,’ and not just training but we’re seeing BAE [a British defense firm] for example, move into manufacturing in country, for example,” he said.
Greene, who is among Republicans who want to halt U.S. aid to Ukraine, took to social media to suggest the move would lead to a global conflict.
“They are going to start WWIII. The U.S. cannot participate,” the Georgia Republican wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “NO AMERICAN TROOPS! We must defend our own border!!!”
Newsweek has contacted Greene’s office for comment via email. The British Ministry of Defense did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Shapps’ comments come after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that he wants to create a “large military hub” by partnering with Western weapons manufacturers to increase arms supplies for Kyiv’s counteroffensive against Russia.
Shapps, who was appointed defense minister on September 1, assured Zelensky that the U.K. will “continue to stand shoulder to shoulder” with Ukraine after traveling to Kyiv to meet him on Wednesday.
“We have trained tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers, delivered hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition, and provided millions of pounds of economic and humanitarian aid to help Ukraine’s citizens reclaim and rebuild what has been taken from them by Putin’s barbaric invasion,” he said in a statement.
President Joe Biden also reiterated his commitment to Ukraine during Zelensky’s visit to Washington in September, but a growing number of Republican lawmakers now oppose providing further aid to Ukraine.
A temporary funding bill approved by Congress and signed by Biden on Saturday excluded his request to provide more security assistance to Ukraine.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy omitted additional Ukraine aid from the measure that will keep the government running until November 7. By doing so, he closed the door on a Senate package that would have provided $6 billion to Ukraine. Members of both parties abandoned increased aid for Ukraine in favor of avoiding a costly federal government shutdown.
In a statement, Biden said the bill prevents an “unnecessary crisis that would have inflicted needless pain on millions of hardworking Americans.”
But the U.S. “cannot under any circumstances allow American support for Ukraine to be interrupted,” he said.
“While the Speaker and the overwhelming majority of Congress have been steadfast in their support for Ukraine, there is no new funding in this agreement to continue that support,” Biden said. “I fully expect the Speaker will keep his commitment to the people of Ukraine and secure passage of the support needed to help Ukraine at this critical moment.”