katie bowen. >> martin, thank you and good evening. it's 7:01. these are your latest headlines from the gb newsroom. european leaders , gb newsroom. european leaders, including sir keir starmer, met including sir keir starmer, met in paris this afternoon for an emergency summit on the situation in ukraine. the prime minister left the elysee palace a short time ago. sir keir starmer said this morning that he is ready and willing to put british troops into ukraine if a peace deal is reached. he added that any settlement needs to be a lasting peace deal, not just to pause for putin to come again. warning that the uk and europe are facing a generational challenge and need to do more to support ukraine. leaders from germany, italy, poland and spain, among others, alongside the nato secretary general and president of the eu council and commission, attended the emergency summit. sir keir starmer set out his position on ukraine earlier on. >> 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. i think there's a bigger piece here as well, which is that this isn't just about the front line in ukraine, it's the front line in ukraine, it's the front line of europe and of the front line of europe and of the united kingdom. it's about our national security. and i think that we need to do more. we need to step up in terms of our collective response in europe. >> well, the summit comes as it was announced this afternoon that sir keir starmer will meet president trump in washington, d.c, next week in what will be their first meeting since mr trump became president. the prime minister's official spokesman said it was a bid to deepen the special relationship. the us top diplomat, marco rubio, met with saudi arabia counterparts this morning ahead of talks between the us and russia. speaking this afternoon, us special envoy keith kellogg said that no one will impose a

peace deal on zelenskyy. he and the people of ukraine will make that call. some news now coming out of the middle east. israel is preparing to receive the bodies of four hostages from gaza on thursday, and is working on bringing back six living hostages on saturday, an israeli security official said earlier on. we'll bring you more on that developing story as we get it. an update from the vatican now. pope francis remains in hospital, but he is in a stable clinical condition and does not have a fever. a statement released a short time ago has said earlier, doctors had to change treatment for the pope's respiratory tract infection to tackle what they called a complex clinical situation. the 88 year old pontiff had been suffering from a respiratory infection for more than a week, and was admitted to rome's gemelli hospital on friday. nhs england has revealed an additional 2 million appointments were delivered

dunng appointments were delivered during sir keir starmer's first five months in power. the government says the nhs is on the road to recovery after meeting this goal, and figures show nhs waiting lists continue to fall in december for the fourth month in a row. sir keir starmer says he knows the job isn't done and has promised further reforms to deliver faster treatment. police were called to bbc headquarters earlier today after glass doors were smashed and red paint was sprayed on the building. the metropolitan police have launched an investigation after protesters vandalised the broadcaster's office in portland place in london. the group palestine action has issued a statement claiming responsibility for the damage, saying it covered the building in blood red paint in protest against what they called is the bbc's pro—israel bias. and team uk's time at the invictus games in vancouver has come to an end after ten days of competition.

the team joined their fellow competitors from around the world in a closing ceremony at rogers arena in vancouver. after hosting a games which included winter sports for the first time. canada handed the invictus flag back to the uk, who will host the next games in birmingham in 2027. those are the latest gb news headlines. now let's go back to martin. >> for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone. sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gbnews.com/poll. >> michaela community school. >> michaela community school. >> thank you katie. now this is the moment for us all to step up. well, those are the words of sir keir starmer as he declares he is ready and willing to put british boots on the ground in ukraine to enforce any peace deal with vladimir putin. well, this comes as the prime minister earlier today, as you can see on

your screen, touched down in paris for an emergency summit alongside european leaders amid fears that the united states are sidelining allies on the continent as it presses for a dealin continent as it presses for a deal in ukraine. in fact, marco rubio, donald trump's secretary of state, has arrived in saudi arabia for a sit down with the russian diplomats to begin the next stage of peace talks. and that's despite ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy vowing to reject any deal where ukraine is not represented. well, join me now to discuss. this is sir gerald howarth, the former conservative defence minister, sir sir gerald howarth. welcome to the show. let me put this to you. the nofion let me put this to you. the notion of british boots being on the ground is absurd. we have the ground is absurd. we have the smallest army since the napoleonic era, the smallest raf since its inception at the end of world war i. and so few sailors were decommissioning ships. it would take getting on for 50,000 troops to maintain any kind of presence. and we

simply don't have the forces. why put british boots on the ground? >> well, good evening martin. the fact is that this is all premature talk. and of course, it would not be the united kingdom on our own. we would be joined by other countries. although, of course, as we are discovering today, there is, as there has been throughout this appalling attack on a sovereign state by the brutal regime in russia, this unprovoked attack. unfortunately, europe has been extremely slow. america was slow at first, but thanks to boris johnson, biden found some cojones to stand up to this attack. however, it is, as i say, premature. the fact is that i do not think that it is wise of the president of the united states. i think it's slightly discourteous as well for him to talk to the aggressor. putin, behind the back of zelenskyy and his partners. and i would remind

president trump that his forebear, bill clinton, together with sir john forebear, bill clinton, together with sirjohn major of forebear, bill clinton, together with sir john major of the united kingdom and the president of russia at the time, boris yeltsin, they were parties to the agreement. the budapest memorandum of 1995, under which ukraine gave up its entire arsenal of nuclear weapons in return for an assurance, not a guarantee i accept, but an assurance that its sovereignty, independence and existing borders would be respected. so not only is russia in flagrant breach of the agreement that it itself signed, but it appears to me that the president, the united states, is unfamiliar with the budapest memorandum signed by his forebear, president bill clinton, and maybe being premature in saying that there should be some kind of deal which would involve the

surrender, the capitulation of ukraine, which i personally would find unacceptable, because i think if that were to happen, it would unleash further attacks by putin, who has made no secret of his desire to rebuild the soviet union and europe, would be an even worse state if we do not resist him now. >> okay, so, gerald, of course, we don't know that that would be the terms of any deal yet. in fact, we're still waiting to find out what those terms are. but please stick with us. i like your reaction to this, please. because moments ago, sir keir starmer left a meeting with european leaders, including emmanuel macron, on how to respond to the war in ukraine. and he addressed reporters. and here is what he had to say. >> good evening. i want to thank president macron for convening us this evening. at stake is not just the future of ukraine. it is an existential question for europe as a whole and therefore vital for britain's national

interest. this is a once in a generation moment for the collective security of our continent. only a lasting peace in ukraine that safeguards its sovereignty will deter putin from further aggression in the future. now, recent statements by the us administration should not come as a surprise. president trump has long expressed the wish for europe to step up and meet the demands of its own security, that he wants to get a lasting peace agreement to get a lasting peace agreement to end the war in ukraine. so today's informal meeting of european leaders was a 1503