17th Feb 2025 17:52
(Alliance News) - Keir Starmer has warned of a "generational challenge" requiring the UK and Europe to "step up capability" as he arrived in Paris for emergency talks on the Ukraine war with other leaders.
The prime minister said any settlement would need to be a "lasting peace deal, not just a pause for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to come again" as he gathered with allies in the French capital.
Starmer has said he would be prepared to put a peacekeeping force into Ukraine if there is a deal to end the war with Russia.
In a post on social media site X, he said: "If there is a peace deal, and everybody wants a peace deal, then it's got to be a lasting peace deal, not just a pause for Putin to come again.
"So that needs to be discussed. There's also a wider peace here, which is the collective security and defence of Europe. And here I think we've got a generational challenge.
"We've all got to step up in terms of capability and what we do as Europeans, and that's certainly the case, the message, the argument that I'll be making."
The meeting comes as European leaders scramble for a strategy in response to US President Donald Trump's push for a deal with Putin and amid fears the US will reduce its defence commitments in the continent.
Starmer was pictured arriving at the Elysee Palace shortly before 3pm on Monday afternoon and shook the hand of French President Emmanuel Macron before heading inside.
Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte followed Starmer into the building shortly afterwards, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez have also been pictured arriving.
Donald Tusk, Dick Schoof and Mette Frederiksen, the prime ministers of Poland, the Netherlands and Denmark, were also seen arriving.
European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are also in attendance.
Macron and Trump had spoken on the phone ahead of the meeting.
The gathering in Paris comes as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is leading a delegation to Saudi Arabia for talks with Russian officials that will look to seek an end to the fighting.
Ukraine has not been invited to the talks and will not accept the outcome if Kyiv is not involved, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday.
Zelensky said he was travelling to Saudi Arabia this week but that the visit was unrelated to the planned talks.
"We're facing a generational challenge when it comes to national security," Starmer told reporters in Bristol before his trip to Paris.
"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."
Starmer, who is due to visit Trump in Washington DC later this month, said the US wants to achieve "lasting peace" in Ukraine which "aligns precisely" with the UK and EU position.
"I think what the US wants to achieve is lasting peace in Ukraine that aligns precisely with what we want in the UK, what Ukraine wants and what our European allies want," he said.
The US stance on Ukraine calls for Europe to do more to pay for and provide its own security and increases pressure for greater defence spending across the continent.
Starmer said his message to European counterparts would be that it was important to have "realistic and credible answers" for how to make any peace agreement last.
He said: "I think that we need to do more.
"We need to step up in terms of our collective response in Europe, and by that I mean capability.
"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, and, of course, when it comes to funding and training.
"So, on all those fronts, I want the UK and all European allies to step up, and for the UK to play a leading part in that."
Starmer is unlikely to go beyond his commitment to set out a plan to increase defence spending to a 2.5% share of the economy, despite calls from Trump to hike spending to 5% and Rutte's suggestion that Nato allies should spend more than 3%.
The UK currently spends around 2.3% of gross national product on defence.
Earlier on Monday, Downing Street did not rule out the prospect of a vote on the matter of a peacekeeping role for UK troops in Ukraine.
Asked about the prospect of a vote, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "There has more broadly been cross-party support for the UK's backing of Ukraine since the conflict first began, we've always been very clear that we are going to play our role in future security guarantees.
"But we're not going to get ahead of decisions on that, and obviously Parliament will continue to be updated and consulted as appropriate."
Asked how high the stakes will be at the emergency talks in Paris with European leaders on Ukraine, Starmer said it was "very important" to try to move forward after three years of conflict.
He added: "But until we get a peace agreement, we must ensure Ukraine is in the strongest possible position.
"We don't know what's going to happen next and we need to have realistic and credible answers to how any ceasefire, how any peace agreement, will be lasting, just and enduring, because the last thing I want to see is a pause in the fighting that simply gives Putin the chance to come again, which is why it's very important that we have these discussions."
Starmer has previously only hinted that British troops could be involved in safeguarding Ukraine after a ceasefire, but in an explicit message aimed at encouraging both European allies and Trump to commit to deterring a future attack he confirmed he could deploy the military.
He said the UK was ready to play a "leading role" in Ukraine's defence and contribute to security guarantees "by putting our own troops on the ground if necessary", in an article for The Telegraph.
The prime minister also restated his position that Ukraine's path to Nato membership is "irreversible" and that Ukraine must be at the table in peace negotiations.
Before his trip to Paris, Starmer spoke to the prime minister of Norway, Jonas Gahr Store.
A Downing Street spokesperson said that during the call the Prime Minister set out "his aims for the informal meeting of European leaders taking place later today in Paris to discuss the situation in Ukraine".
The spokesperson added: "Ensuring Ukraine is in the strongest possible position is paramount, and they both agreed that all international leaders must come together to ensure Euro-Atlantic security.
"The Prime Minister reiterated that this is a once-in-a-generation moment for our national security and there could be no talks about Ukraine without Ukraine."
source: PA
Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.