Ex-defence secretary Sir Grant Shapps today suggested a Whitehall secrecy rule prevents him revealing why Donald Trump is ‘in cahoots’ with Vladimir Putin.

The former Tory MP said he had ‘some theories’ to explain the US President’s ‘support’ for Russia’s leader, who he branded a ‘tyrant’ and ‘dictator’.

But Sir Grant added he ‘may have to wait for the 30-year rule to talk about them’ – a reference to official documents only being made public decades after their creation.

He went on to describe Mr Trump’s treatment of Ukraine – as it continues to battle Mr Putin’s brutal invasion – as ‘sick,’ ‘disgusting,’ and ‘revolting’.

The ex-Cabinet minister hit out after the US President piled pressure on Kyiv to formally cede territory to Russia, including Crimea, as part of a peace deal.

After once vowing to end the conflict within 24 hours of returning to the White House, Mr Trump has since expressed frustration at his so far fruitless efforts to halt the war.

He last night launched another scathing attack on Volodymyr Zelensky and accused him of prolonging the ‘killing field’ by refusing to give up territory.

He warned the Ukrainian President he can either ‘have peace, or he can fight for another three years before losing the whole country’.

Ex-defence secretary Sir Grant Shapps suggested a Whitehall secrecy rule prevents him revealing why Donald Trump is ‘in cahoots’ with Vladimir Putin

The ex-Cabinet minister hit out after the US President piled pressure on Kyiv to formally cede territory to Russia, including Crimea, as part of a peace deal 

Sir Grant said he had ‘some theories’ to explain the US President’s ‘support’ for Mr Putin, who he branded a ‘tyrant’ and ‘dictator’

Speaking to Times Radio this morning, Sir Grant bemoaned ‘this terrible combination of a President who just for some reason seems to support the tyrant’.

‘I have some theories as to why, but I may have to wait for the 30-year rule to talk about them,’ he added of Mr Trump’s relationship with Mr Putin.

Asked to expand further, Sir Grant replied: ‘Thank you, I think I’ll probably resist, but I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch.

‘And many of your listeners will already know because it’s publicly reported that he’s had previous run-ins with Kyiv, unrelated to the war.

‘People may come to their own theories as to why he seemed to be in cahoots with Putin.

‘Who after all is a dictator who wants a completely different type of world to the one which has been constructed after the Second World War.’

Sir Grant blasted Mr Trump’s treatment of Ukraine as ‘sick’ and ‘really disgusting’.

‘This is the leader of the free world, who is really coming out as nothing more than a swaggering bully, and choosing tyranny over democracy,’ he said.

‘This whole idea that in public, the President of the United States of America, the home of the free, defender of freedom and liberty, bullies a democratic leader into accepting an unjust peace, I find completely revolting.’

Sir Grant claimed Mr Trump had ‘spent his entire career as a sort of swaggering bully’.

‘Anyone who disagrees with him, he shoots down and then half the time, you know, gets back into bed with them and ends up with them in his cabinet or something,’ he added.

Mr Zelensky is refusing to countenance any Russian claim to annexed Crimea, or the handing over of other territory as part of a US-arranged peace deal with Moscow.

In reference to conceding defeat over Crimea, Mr Zelensky told the Wall Street Journal: ‘There’s nothing to discuss – this lies outside our constitution.

‘This is our territory, the land of the Ukrainian people. This will not happen.’ 

Mr Putin and Mr Trump pictured meeting on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, in 2019

But last night Mr Trump ranted on his Truth Social platform: ‘Zelensky is boasting that Ukraine will not legally recognise the occupation of Crimea.

‘He has nothing to boast about. Crimea was lost years ago under the auspices of President Barack Hussein Obama, and is not even a point of discussion.

‘Nobody is asking Zelensky to recognize Crimea as Russian Territory but, if he wants Crimea, why didn’t they fight for it 11 years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired?

‘Inflammatory statements like that make it so difficult to settle this war.

‘He can have peace or he can fight for another three years before losing the whole country.

‘The statement by Zelensky will do nothing but prolong the “killing field” and nobody wants that.

‘We are very close to a deal but the man with “no cards to play” should, finally, GET IT DONE.

‘I look forward to being able to help Ukraine, and Russia get out of this complete and total MESS.’

Conceding sovereignty of Crimea was one of seven clauses in a peace plan put together by Mr Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff following a five-hour meeting with Mr Putin in St Petersburg last week.

Russia would also keep four provinces in eastern Ukraine – Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia – making the millions of Ukrainians living there Russian citizens overnight.