LONDON: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday said the UK is "ready and willing" to put troops on the ground in Ukraine in pursuit of a peace deal with Russia amid a "generational challenge" to the country's security.
Ahead of travelling to Paris for an important informal summit with European leaders to discuss US President Donald Trump's talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv, Starmer penned a column in The Daily Telegraph to warn that Europe faces an "existential threat" and must "step up" to enhance defence and security measures for the continent.
His Downing Street spokesperson also confirmed a planned visit to Washington next week to hold bilateral talks with Trump, with the Russia-Ukraine conflict featuring heavily.
"We're facing a generational challenge when it comes to national security, Starmer told reporters during a tour of a diagnostic centre in Bristol, south-west England, on Monday morning. Obviously, the immediate question is the future of Ukraine, and we must continue to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position whatever happens next and to make sure that if there is peace, and we all want peace that it is lasting," he said.
Writing in the newspaper column, Starmer notes that securing a lasting peace in Ukraine that safeguards its sovereignty for the long term is essential if "we are to deter Putin from further aggression in the future".
"As European nations, we must increase our defence spending and take on a greater role in NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organisation]. Non-US NATO nations have already increased defence spending by 20 per cent in the past year, but we must go further," he writes.
"The UK is ready to play a leading role in accelerating work on security guarantees for Ukraine. This includes further support for Ukraine's military, where the UK has already committed GBP 3 billion a year until at least 2030. But it also means being ready and willing to contribute to security guarantees to Ukraine by putting our own troops on the ground if necessary," he said.
The Prime Minister asserted that any role in helping to guarantee Ukraine's security is helping to guarantee the security of the European continent.
"Russia is still waging war and Ukraine is still fighting for its freedom, which is why we must not relent in our efforts to get the kit Ukrainians need for their fighters on the front line. While the fighting continues, we must put Ukraine in the strongest possible position ahead of any talks," he noted.
Starmer's intervention comes against the backdrop of much uncertainty around Washington's talks with Moscow, with European leaders fearful of the concessions Trump might hand to Putin.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that it would be "very, very difficult" for Ukraine to survive without American military assistance and has insisted that any peace talks should not overlook Kyiv's interests.
French President Emmanuel Macron will host Monday's emergency summit with the leaders of the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands and Denmark and Mark Rutte, the NATO secretary-general, to discuss the conflict in the region.
"We need to step up in terms of our collective response in Europe, and by that I mean capability, I mean playing our full part when it comes to the defence of the sovereignty of Ukraine if there's a peace agreement," Starmer has said ahead of the meeting, expecting to play a bridging role between Europe and the US when he meets Trump next week.
The UK currently spends around 2.3 per cent of GDP on defence, with the government committed to increasing that to 2.5 per cent - something the Opposition Conservatives are pushing for.
"Totalitarian states like Russia, Iran, and North Korea are coordinated in their efforts. Failing to spend more on defence is not peace-making, it is weakness. And it only emboldens their threats to democracy and global stability," said Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.