LABOUR Prime Minister Keir Starmer said yesterday that he is ‘ready and willing’ to put UK ‘boots on the ground’ in Ukraine, just as US President Donald Trump prepared to withdraw support for Ukraine’s war on Russia.
Starmer attended a meeting of European leaders in Paris to discuss concerns over US-Russia talks on ending the war that will lock out the continent.
US and Russian officials are to meet in Saudi Arabia today, 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,’ Starmer 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.’
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.
Starmer 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.’
Starmer met 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 emergency summit was arranged over the weekend in response to concerns over US-Russia talks on Ukraine that will not include Europe.
Starmer said Ukraine’s path to NATO membership is ‘irreversible’ and a Downing Street spokesman said he would tell yesterday’s summit to ‘take on a greater role in NATO’.
This means ‘further supporting Ukraine’s military’ as well as ‘being ready to contribute to security guarantees by putting our own troops on the ground if necessary.’
