LABOUR Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer chaired a European leaders war summit at Lancaster House in The Mall in central London yesterday.
With hugs and kisses, Starmer welcomed 18 European leaders: Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelensky, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, European Council President Antonio Costa, Netherlands PM Dick Schoof, Finland president Alexander Stubb, Romanian PM Ilie Bolojan, Finland President Alexander Stubb, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, Denmark PM Mette Frederiksen, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen, Czech PM Petr Fiala, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Swedish PM Ulf Kristersson, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Norwegian PM Jonas Støre, NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte, Polish PM Donald Tusk and French President Emmanuel Macron.
As the Summit assembled, with Starmer in the Chair and with Macron to his right and Zelensky to his left, Starmer told the media: ‘In my conversations in recent days, we agreed that a group of us will work with Ukraine on a plan to stop the fighting and then discuss that with the US and take it forward together.
‘I spoke with our Baltic allies this morning and they are at the heart of our discussions. Today’s meeting is to unite around a strategy to defeat any future Russian aggression.
‘Even while Russia talks about peace, they are continuing their relentless aggression. This is a once in a generation moment for the security of Europe and we all need to step up.’
Commenting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that for 500 years, ‘all the world’s tragedies have either originated in Europe or happened because of European policies’.
At the end of the Summit, Zelensky went to Buckingham Palace from where he flew to Sandringham to meet King Charles III, while Starmer held a press conference.
After the European Leaders War Summit, Starmer held a press conference, at which he failed to answer a point blank question: ‘Is a prospect of Britain being at war with Russia?’
Opening the press conference, Starmer declared: ‘Last week, I announced the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the Cold War.’
He went on: ‘Yesterday evening, the UK signed a £2.2 billion loan to provide more military aid to Ukraine, backed, not by the British taxpayer, but by the profits from frozen Russian assets. And today, I’m announcing a new deal, which allows Ukraine to use £1.6 billion of UK export finance to buy more than 5,000 air defence missiles which will be made in Belfast, creating jobs in our brilliant defence sector.
‘This will be vital for protecting critical infrastructure now and strengthen Ukraine in securing the peace when it comes …
‘Any deal must be backed by strength. Every nation must contribute to that in the best way it can bringing different capabilities and support to the table, but all taking responsibility to act, all stepping up their own share of the burden …
‘Not every nation will feel able to contribute, but that can’t mean that we sit back. Instead, those willing will intensify planning now, with real urgency.
‘The UK is prepared to back this with boots on the ground and planes in the air. Together with others Europe must do the heavy lifting …
‘Finally, we agreed that leaders must meet again very soon to keep the pace behind these actions and to keep working towards this shared plan.
‘We are at the crossroads in history today. This is not a moment for more talk, it’s time to act. It’s a time to step up and lead and unite around a new plan for a just and enduring peace,’ he concluded.
Starmer was then asked by Robert Peston from ITV: ‘I want to put to you what will be on the minds millions of British people. With your commitment in the event of a peace deal to deploy British soldiers to Ukraine, is their now a more real prospect of Britain being at war with Russia? Can you rule that out?’
He replied: ‘The whole point of a guarantee of any deal, if there is a deal, is to preserve the peace and if you want to preserve the peace you have to be prepared to defend the peace.
‘So the reason I’ve been forward leaning on this is because I want to avoid conflict, because I do not want conflict in Ukraine, in Europe and not in the United Kingdom. I want stability in the United Kingdom.
‘The way to ensure stability is to ensure that we are able to defend a deal in Ukraine, because the one thing that history shows us is that if there is conflict in Europe it will wash up on our shores.’
