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Keir Starmer is set to join a European crisis summit to face down the threat of Russia after the US barred European leaders from peace talks with Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine war.
France is preparing to host the last-minute, informal meeting with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte following comments by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky that the continent should form an “army of Europe” as it could not rely on the US for defence.
Sir Keir said: “This is a once-in-a-generation moment for our national security where we engage with the reality of the world today and the threat we face from Russia.”
“It’s clear Europe must take on a greater role in Nato as we work with the United States to secure Ukraine’s future and face down the threat we face from Russia.
“The UK will work to ensure we keep the US and Europe together. We cannot allow any divisions in the alliance to distract from the external enemies we face.”
It is understood that French president Emmanuel Macron has invited European leaders to Paris in the coming days to discuss the crisis. Sir Keir will take the messages from this meeting on the way forward on Ukraine to Washington DC the following week to discuss at his meeting with president Donald Trump.
The prime minister spoke to Mr Zelensky on Friday morning and discussed the importance of a US security guarantee to ensure that Putin does not attack Ukraine again once peace is reached.
Earlier, Mr Zelensky told the Munich Security Conference: “As we fight this war and lay the groundwork for peace and security, we must build the armed forces of Europe so that Europe’s future depends only on Europeans, and decisions about Europe are made in Europe.”
He also warned that Russia may be preparing to launch intensified offensive operations into northern Ukraine or attack Nato’s eastern flank in 2026.
Mr Zelensky’s views were reinforced in a separate warning by General Sir Richard Shirreff, Nato’s former supreme allied commander of Europe.
Writing in The Independent, Sir Richard said the US can no longer be trusted as Europe and Britain’s ally. He called for a dramatic rise in defence spending to avoid the risk of a third world war.
Foreign secretary David Lammy also told the conference Ukraine was an “existential question” for Europe as he warned a failure to deal with Russia over Ukraine would cost the UK billions, while asserting Ukraine was on an “irreversible pathway” towards Nato.
Pointing to the approximate 7 per cent of gross domestic product that countries spent on defence in the Cold War, against the current UK rate of 2.3 per cent, Lammy said: “Don’t think that not meeting the challenge now somehow saves us money down the line.”
At the same conference, the US president’s special envoy for Ukraine revealed Europe would be consulted but ultimately excluded from the peace talks.
Asked if they would be present, Keith Kellogg said he was from “the school of realism, and that is not going to happen”.
Washington has suggested Nato membership for Ukraine is off the table and Mr Zelensky will have to cede territory to Russia. Mr Trump said he had spoken to Mr Putin on Wednesday and agreed to “work together, very closely” to bring an end to the war as it nears its third anniversary.
Mr Zelensky said: “A few days ago, President Trump told me about his conversation with Putin. Not once did he mention that America needs Europe at the table. That says a lot.
“The old days are over when America supported Europe just because it always had.”
