David Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, on Thursday urged US lawmakers to approve fresh aid for Ukraine to help fund Kyiv’s battle against Russian forces.

On Wednesday, the US Senate blocked a White House request for $106 billion in emergency aid primarily for Ukraine and Israel, in a move Lord Cameron described as a “Christmas present” to Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.

It was a setback for President Joe Biden, who had urged lawmakers to approve the funds, warning that Putin would not stop with victory in Ukraine and could even attack a NATO nation.

“We should pass this money to the Ukrainians,” Lord Cameron told the Aspen Security Forum in the US capital. “We should back them and make sure that it’s Putin that loses because if that money doesn’t get voted through, there are only two people that will be smiling.”

One of them is Putin, and “the other one is Xi Jinping in Beijing,” Lord Cameron said. “And I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to give either of those people a Christmas present.”

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