boxt following a summit on ukraine. he has vowed to keep the aid flowing after welcoming european leaders to london after a meeting that lasted more than an hour. he announced an extra £1.6 billion of funding for ukraine. he addressed the nation a short time ago. >> of any government is the security and safety of the british people to defend the national interest, particularly in these volatile times. that is why last week i announced the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the cold war. that's also why i met president trump last week to strengthen our relationship with america and indispensable partners in defence and security. and it's why this weekend i have been hosting european leaders here in london

to work together for the security of the united kingdom, ukraine and europe as a whole. through my discussions over recent days, we�*ve agreed that recent days, we've agreed that the uk, france and others will work with ukraine on a plan to stop the fighting. then we�*ll discuss that plan with the united states and take it forward together. the purpose of today's meeting was to unite our today�*s meeting was to unite our partners around this effort to strengthen ukraine, and to support a just and enduring peace for the good of all of us. our starting point must be to put ukraine in the strongest possible position now, so that they can negotiate from a position of strength. and we are doubling down in our support. yesterday evening the uk signed a £22 billion loan to provide

more military aid to ukraine, backed not by the british taxpayer but by the profits from frozen russian assets. and today i am announcing a new deal which allows ukraine to use £1.6 billion of uk export finance to buy more than 5000 air defence missiles, which will be made in belfast. creating jobs in our brilliant defence sector. this will be vital for protecting critical infrastructure now and strengthening ukraine in securing the peace when it comes, because we have to learn from the mistakes of the past. we cannot accept a weak deal like minsk, which russia can breach with ease. instead, any deal must be backed by strength. every nation must contribute to thatin every nation must contribute to that in the best way that it can. bringing different

capabilities and support to the table, but all taking responsibility to act. all stepping up their own share of the burden. so we agreed some important steps today. first, we will keep the military aid flowing and keep increasing the economic pressure on russia to strengthen ukraine. now, second, we agreed that any lasting peace must ensure ukraine's sovereignty and security. and ukraine must be at the table. third, in the event of a peace deal third, in the event of a peace deal, we will keep boosting ukraine's own defensive ukraine�*s own defensive capabilities to deter any future invasion. fourth, we will go further to develop a coalition of the willing to defend a deal in ukraine and to guarantee the peace. not every nation will feel able to contribute. but

that can�*t mean that we sit back. instead, those willing will intensify planning now with real urgency. the uk is prepared to back this with boots on the ground and planes in the air, together with others. europe must do the heavy lifting, but to support peace in our continent and to succeed, this effort must have strong us backing. we are working with the us on this point. after my meeting with president trump last week, and let me be clear, we agree with the president on the urgent need for a durable peace. now we need to deliver together. finally, we agreed that leaders will meet again very soon to keep the pace behind these actions and to keep working towards this shared plan. we are at a crossroads in

history today. this is not a moment for more talk. it's time to act. time to step up and lead and to unite around a new plan for a just and enduring peace. >> so that was sir keir starmer earlier today. he had a big press conference after his meeting at a venue outside in london, where they spoke about how they would all get together and try and create peace. gb news political editor, christopher hope, was at that press conference for us. christopher, what can you tell us? >> that's right. listening back again to those words from the prime minister, nana a crossroads in history. and also fascinating. i think they talked about us strong us backing, but no mention there of military support. now, i've been in washington for that 36 hours there and back trip with the prime minister. back then it was all the talk was a military

backstop and how it might be supportive. and us military being used to provide almost like a dome, like the physical iron dome, but some kind of protection over the continent of europe. he simply said, there are strong us backing, and i wonder whether that is evidence that the uk and maybe the is that the uk and maybe the 15 other countries have met behind me in lancaster house in central london, are thinking we can't even guarantee the basics. we can't even guarantee that the us will provide that support. long, long—range jet support or radar support for a uk or uk or european peacekeeping force on the ground in ukraine. and instead, all we're looking for now is strong us backing and that shows what is changing here. the people behind me, these european leaders are being told to step up, pay for their own defence because you can't guarantee on the us to back us anymore. and you mentioned earlier where was the conversation about putin in the room. barely there. it was really all about will america back this plan? will they give us backing, whatever that means?

and then what will the uk do? we're told by the prime minister he's going to deploy british troops on the boots on the ground. would you use their planes in the air? who's going planes in the air? who�*s going to pay for that for the next two years? we know the money is the 6 billion they're getting from the aid budget comes in in 2027, 2028. before then, is it more borrowing? will it be cuts in the summer? will brits mind having their services cut to pay for supporting ukraine? lots of questions and will be more questions and will be more questions this week, i think in parliament. sir keir starmer there is speaking to mps there is speaking to mp5 tomorrow. we�*ll be speaking elsewhere about this. we expect a european council meeting on thursday. that's of all the european, the 27 eu leaders. i wonder whether sir keir starmer mayfield wants to go there, otherwise he might see control of this issue and lose the idea of this issue and lose the idea of being this gap between this bridging that gap between the us and europe. so lots to play for. but i think it was yeah fascinating by the questions,

the answers which we didn't get from the prime minister there an element of trumpian ness there from the prime from the prime minister nana, he's announced 1.6 billion of export finance to buy 5000 air defence missiles made in belfast, making british jobs for british workers. and thatis jobs for british workers. and that is what he's been saying to us out in washington, dc. he wants to use the money being spent on the defence budget, from the aid budget spent on uk industry creating quality uk jobs. you�*re almost out of the donald trump playbook. >> it will be interesting whether those weapons will be used for ukraine, or whether we might actually keep some for ourselves. our army is quite depleted, so i did find that all of that was great if we can do that, but it felt like a perpetuation of what we are currently doing. so that's the plan and all of these things. once we�*ve done that, how soon was there any indication? do we have any idea as to how soon the others will get together this force? and you know, this, these

coalition of the willing. >> yeah, coalition of the willing. yeah. no, we don�*t know yet. we're watching all the individual countries. the leaders will go out and speak to their individual broadcasters. so far, ursula von der leyen and the european commission president, she spoke to journalists, talked about a meeting on thursday of the european council of eu leaders to further take forward increased defence spending. same with the european council president. he also spoke to us costa, but otherwise we're waiting to see what what these leaders say to their domestic audiences because the people are paying for this will be their taxpayers in their own countries. many countries have stretched budgets. germany can is having is in a bit of a, of a, of a, of a slough of despond in terms of their economy, how can they afford it? lots of countries will be having difficult conversations with their own electorates about how to fund this. and as you say, with, with ukraine, we're giving them more missiles to protect them. what about our troops? but

of course, the question of the war question was one which was raised earlier to sir keir starmer. and he says he wants to preserve the peace. but as sir keir starmer left the conference here, i shouted out some personal questions about the timeliness of what is announced. >> chris billam—smith chris billam—smith. >> prime minister. >> prime minister. >> is right now. >> is right now. >> prime minister won a boots on the ground. >> one of british troops going to ukraine. prime minister he prayed to give up territory. prime minister, when will uk troops go on the ground in ukraine? prime minister when? who�*s paying for it? >> are you esther ghey. so there you have it. they're not answering the questions we're throwing to him from gb news. but question. i�*m sure that our but question. i'm sure that our viewers and listeners are wondering when will troops, when will british troops go into ukraine? will that be after the peace deal? what does uk support

mean? is that actually military backing orjust mean? is that actually military backing or just a tick box backing orjust a tick box exercise for donald trump? what would that mean? and how will this be paid for? as i say, the aid budget is being raised from 2027 until then. how do we fund this? is that enough? and will does that does that deadline need to be brought forward? do we need to pledge to get to 3% of gdp before the end of the decade? as reform uk are arguing, the current target is in the first five years of the next decade, the 20305. >> well, that's quite some commitment for him to offer that. and as you said, all those questions still stand now. i was just very briefly wants to talk about nato, because where does that leave nato? if we have a coalition of the willing, won't it dilute nato? and then does the aid budget become less for nato and the coalition? i don't see how this is going to work at all. >> the question of nato is one which hasn't yet really been discussed since last week.

russia says that having nato troops in ukraine is unacceptable to them. and don't forget, they have to agree this peace deal. so if they won't peace deal. 50 if they won't allow nato to be deployed as a, as a as allow nato to be deployed as a, mafia allow nato to be deployed as a, as a as a peace force in ukraine, what do you do? you have a coalition of the willing under a new badge. it can't be the european union army, as has been mooted in the past by france. that will be unacceptable to uk politicians, given we�*re outside the european union. 50 what could be a european defence force? but as you say, it might stretch money or assets, soldiers and the like shared with nato. where does it leave nato? 0r shared with nato. where does it leave nato? or in fact, are we seeing the splintering of nato? if we can no longer rely on america as a military force to support the uk and european allies, then is nato's time done?|s allies, then is nato's time done? is it time for a new form of nato less reliant on on the us? the one positive thing i think that came out of last week, or one of them in terms of

nato and trump was he was asked, does the article five still stand? what that means is if a nato country is attacked, are other nato countries obliged to go and support that country? he said, yes, and that's really said, yes, and that�*s really important. >> well, christopher, thank you very much. that is christopher hope. he's been there outside where the meeting has been held. the european leaders, the big summit that keir starmer has been hosting. listen, i can bring you the news that his majesty the king, king charles the third has met with the ukrainian president, volodymyr zelenskyy at sandringham estate. very important visitor. of course, that was we�*ll try and course, that was. we'll try and get some information about that. but we are joined by retired army officer and a middle east adviser at the ministry of defence, sir simon mayall simon, thank you very much for joining us. >> us. >> good evening simon. >> good evening simon. >> so what do you make of this meeting and the things that came out of it? so keeping the military aid flowing, for example, is that the right move?

>> yes, it is absolutely right. and we�*ve got a short, medium and we've got a short, medium and long term problem. the short term problem is, of course, keeping the ukrainians in the fight, keeping russia at bay, keeping pressure on russia. the short the medium term, of course, is working out what a peace deal looks like and then what is required from a coalition of the willing nato miners, eu plus or any number of combinations and where the combinations. and where the americans stand on that to make sure any peace deal is, is supported. and then of course, it's just the linkage. and this is where one has got to be. it's is where one has got to be. it�*s easy to be critical about the americans, but they are drawn hugely to the issue they have with china. they�*re looking at iran, they�*re looking at gaza, iran, they're looking at gaza, and they�*re very keen to draw a line under this conflict in ukraine. trump, the great disrupter, as we know, and we shouldn't be surprised, has really set the cat among the pigeons. but as churchill once

said, don't ever let a crisis go to waste. it's been a wake up call for all of us. the americans are rich enough to afford guns and butter. the russians are only rich enough to afford guns, and we�*ve largely afford guns, and we've largely gone for a lot of butter in the last few decades. and it's about time we rebalanced. and so i�*m time we rebalanced. and so i'm really hopeful that keir starmer will use the leverage he has with trump. and he�*s, i think, with trump. and he's, i think, got himself in a good position to begin to corral the ponies again behind this because i think we all want the same thing. it's a question of how we how we get there and who contributes to it. but as i say, we've had a wake up call. and i think i suspect that we're going to have to completely change the economic and social model of europe that we've existed under europe that we�*ve existed under for the last 40 years, and not before time, if i may say so. >> well, i�*m glad you mentioned >> well, i'm glad you mentioned that, because a coalition of the willing will mean that nato could end up being defunct. and

of course, then if we have a coalition of the willing, it doesnt coalition of the willing, it doesn't go against vladimir putin's wishes that nato putin�*s wishes that nato shouldn't enter ukraine. so that is a way around it. but i'm not sure he would see it like that. >> right. but hence why we need to keep the pressure up on on russia. they're hurting now. i mean, the you know, the casualty figures are shocking. they've got a very weak economy. we've got a very weak economy. we've got £300 billion frozen at the moment. there are, as you know, ideas that we might just seize that to fund ukraine. we can undoubtedly put pressure on them with an arms race. we can keep the price of energy down. america can flood the market, which means putin's economy is under even more strain. so we've really got to be careful about underselling what pressure we can put on, on on russia in this. but trump the great transactionalist it was unpleasant watching those scenes with zelenskyy being either set

“p with zelenskyy being either set up for a fall, whether it was whatever, you know, deliberate or one of those awful accidents that shouldn't happen in diplomacy. but undoubtedly it's given us urgency, but we must move forward together. starmer was quite right to say we need to keep the americans on side. they are quite right to say, what are you going to do? i have every faith that the americans will find a way that does support us, and i think we may have to work out, depending on which way the russians go, when we put pressure, whether it is a nato, as you say, a coalition of the willing. but surprise, surprise, it�*s all sorts of surprise, it's all sorts of american assets that are made separable from nato. in this particular circumstance. we've got plenty of experience doing this before. there�*s always this before. there's always there's always ways we've we�*ve managed coalitions like this, but we do need the americans. we must not allow a split in the west between the european element. i knowjustin west between the european element. i know justin trudeau element. i knowjustin trudeau was there and america, but the north north american element is far too important that we go forward in lockstep. so starmer back to trump tonight. trump

saying meanwhile military chiefs, the chief of defence staff i�*ve no doubt. well i know staff i've no doubt. well i know and all his staff will be talking to their french opposite numbers, the italian opposite numbers, the italian opposite numbers, the italian opposite numbers, the german opposite numbers. the wires will be buzzing. but we've had crises before. it's just a slightly different mood music, of before. it's just a sligh