Watch: UK ambassador Peter Mandelson says Kyiv should back Trump plan

Oh dear. It has only been twenty-two days since Peter Mandelson formally became Britain’s ambassador to Washington — and he is already causing controversy. As European talks over Ukraine negotiations raged over the weekend, up popped the Labour peer on ABC to offer his take on things. In response to comments by secretary of state Marco Rubio, Mandelson insisted that:

We need a very radical reset and it has to consist of the United States and Ukraine getting back on the same page and President Zelenskyy giving his unequivocal backing to the initiative that President Trump is taking to end the war and to bring a just and lasting peace to Ukraine. And the Europeans too, they need to back the calls for a ceasefire; and by the way I think that Ukraine should be the first to commit to a ceasefire and defy the Russians to follow.

But was that the approved British line? Already, Mandelson’s comments are going down like a cup of cold sick with various bigwigs in London today. On the morning media round today, the hapless Luke Pollard, the parliamentary undersecretary of state for the armed forces, had to distance himself from those remarks. Asked about Mandelson’s suggestion that Ukraine should commit to a ceasefire first and defy Russia to follow it, the defense minister replied “That’s not government policy.” Ooft.

So was Mandy freelancing? Or is the famously well-connected ambassador licensed to advocate such a stance in order to win over team Trump? One thing is for sure: different messages for different audiences is something the New Labour guru knows all about…