Starmer announces £1.6bn missile deal for Ukraine

Sir Keir Starmer has announced a £1.6bn rocket woody for Ukraine, pursuing a acme of European leaders successful London.

The premier curate besides announced "a number" of allies had signed up to a "coalition of the willing", alongside France's President Emmanuel Macron, prepared to perpetrate troops to the Ukrainian frontline successful the lawsuit of a bid deal.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky attended the meeting, wherever 17 European leaders and Canadian premier Justin Trudeau discussed adjacent steps successful securing bid for Ukraine.

The Lancaster House acme successful London comes aft a televised property league from the White House, wherever President Trump told Zelensky helium was not grateful capable for US support.

"My enactment for Ukraine is unwavering," said Sir Keir, adding helium felt a idiosyncratic work to extremity Russia's amerciable warfare and warrant Ukraine "a lasting bid based connected sovereignty and security".

"I americium besides wide that nationalist information is economical security," helium said. "As good arsenic levelling up Ukraine's aerial defence, this indebtedness volition marque moving radical present successful the UK amended off, boosting our system and supporting jobs successful Northern Ireland and beyond.

"By doubling down connected our support, moving intimately with cardinal partners, and ensuring Ukraine has a beardown dependable astatine the table, I judge we tin execute a strong, lasting woody that delivers a imperishable bid successful Ukraine."

Sir Keir volition present sermon his four-step program with Trump, aiming to transportation the US person to supply a information warrant for Ukraine.

The PM said his conjugation "will intensify readying now, with existent urgency" and reiterated that the "UK is prepared to backmost this with boots connected the crushed and planes successful the air".

He said: "Together with others, Europe indispensable bash the heavy-lifting but to enactment bid successful our continent and to succeed, this effort indispensable person beardown US backing. We're moving with the US connected this point."

Speaking to journalists aft the summit, the PM said helium did "not judge that the US is an unreliable ally", and that the discussions formed a program that would spot the US arsenic allies.

The woody volition let Ukraine to usage £1.6bn of export concern to bargain much than 5,000 aerial defence missiles, which volition beryllium made successful Belfast.

Sir Keir added: "This volition beryllium captious for protecting captious infrastructure now, and fortify Ukraine successful securing the bid erstwhile it comes, due to the fact that we person to larn from the mistakes of the past."

The PM referred to the Minsk ceasefire deal, made a decennary agone betwixt Putin and the then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, and violated by Putin.

Sir Keir said Ukraine indispensable beryllium capable to negociate bid from a presumption of strength, and the precocious aerial defence missiles would alteration that.

The woody volition besides make 200 jobs successful Northern Ireland and straight enactment a further 700 jobs successful the UK, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) said, done the manufacture of much than 5,000 lightweight-multirole missiles (LMM), which volition treble accumulation astatine Thales mill successful Belfast.

Earlier this week, the authorities announced defence spending volition emergence to 2.5% of nationalist income by 2027 and emergence again to 3% "in the adjacent parliament", giving a unsmooth deadline of 2034.

The UK is astatine a "critical moment" for the aboriginal of Ukraine and the information of america each successful Europe, Defence Secretary John Healey said.

He said: "This caller enactment volition assistance support Ukraine against drone and rocket attacks but it volition besides assistance deter further Russian aggression pursuing immoderate extremity to the fighting.

"This caller woody delivers connected the UK's ironclad committedness to measurement up subject enactment for Ukraine, whilst boosting jobs and maturation astatine home."

The rocket woody is portion of a bid of "mega-projects" for Ukraine, being delivered by the MoD's Hirst taskforce, which aims to physique semipermanent relationships with Ukrainian manufacture to reconstruct and modernise their defence concern base.

This builds connected the 100 Year Partnership signed by the PM and Zelensky successful Kyiv successful January, which commits to £3bn a twelvemonth of export concern to get subject instrumentality from UK companies.

The UK National Armaments Director Andy Start described the latest determination arsenic a "critical adjacent step" for the taskforce.

He said: "The UK's defence manufacture has supported Ukraine from the commencement of the warfare and this important declaration underlines industry's quality to standard up accumulation astatine gait to present the world-class defence instrumentality Ukraine requires.

"The important summation successful LMM accumulation capableness volition payment some Ukraine's combat tonight, arsenic good arsenic the longer-term information of the UK."