Europe must ‘step up’ on Ukraine, says Starmer
Countries across Europe must “step up” their defence capabilities and funding to protect Ukraine, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said.
The UK and Europe face a “generational challenge” and “need to do more” to defend Ukraine’s long-term security, he added.
His comments come ahead of an emergency meeting in Paris, where European leaders will discuss concerns the US is moving forward with Russia on peace talks that will lock out the continent.
US and Russian officials are to meet in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, without representatives from Europe or Ukraine attending.
“We need to step up in terms of our collective response in Europe, and by that I mean capability,” Sir Keir said.
“By that, I mean playing our full part when it comes to the defence of the sovereignty of Ukraine if there’s a peace agreement.”
It comes after the prime minister said he was “ready and willing” to put UK troops on the ground in Ukraine to help guarantee its safety as part of a peace deal.
This means UK troops could be deployed alongside soldiers from other European nations in a peacekeeping role along the border between Ukrainian-held and Russian-held territory.
But the former head of the British Army, Lord Dannatt, said this would come at a “considerable cost” and require an increase in military funding.
The UK currently spends around 2.3% of GDP on defence. The government has committed to increasing defence spending to 2.5%, but has not said when this will be achieved.
Speaking in Bristol, Sir Keir told reporters that the government would set out a path to meeting the 2.5% commitment once it finishes its strategic defence review.
“Part of my message to our European allies is that we’ve all got to step up on both capability and on spending and funding,” he said.
“That includes the UK, which is why I’ve made that commitment to spend more.”
Sir Keir will attend an emergency summit of European leaders in Paris on Monday afternoon.
He will be joined by leaders from France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark, along with the presidents of the European Council and European Commission, and Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte.
The meeting was arranged over the weekend in response to concerns over US-Russia talks on Ukraine that will not include Europe.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv did not know about the talks and would not recognise any agreement made without its involvement.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth last week said it was “unrealistic” to expect Ukraine to return to its pre-2014 borders and downplayed the prospect of Ukraine joining Nato.
But writing in the Telegraph, Sir Keir said Ukraine’s path to Nato membership was “irreversible”.
A Downing Street spokesman said Sir Keir will tell Monday’s summit to “take on a greater role in Nato”.
Fighting on the ground in Ukraine continued over the weekend, with at least three civilians killed in Russian strikes on Sunday, according to local authorities.
Several areas of Ukraine are under emergency blackout following attacks on energy infrastructure, while Russia’s defence ministry said it intercepted and destroyed 90 Ukrainian drones on Sunday night.
