British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged the "biggest sustained increase" in defense spending since the end of the Cold War as he readies to meet NATO-skeptic U.S. President Donald Trump later this week in Washington.
Starmer, speaking before parliament on February 25, said defense spending would rise to 2.5 percent of economic output by 2027 from 2.3 percent this year, funding the increase with cuts in international aid.
European countries have ramped up defense budgets since Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022. And many leaders have said the increased spending must continue to counter the growing military threat from Moscow.
"We must go further still. I have long argued that...all European allies must step up and do more for our own defense," he said, adding the UK should aim for 3 percent by the end of the decade.
Starmer is on the eve of departing for Washington where he is set to meet Trump on February 27 to discuss ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, becoming the second major European leader to travel to Washington this week.
Trump met French President Emmanuel Macron on February 24 to discuss the same issue.
Since taking office a little over a month ago, Trump has aggressively pursued negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, starting his European allies by opening direct talks with Moscow and accusing Ukraine of starting the war.
European leaders are now scrambling to get a seat at the negotiating table to influence a deal that will directly impact European security.
Macron organized an emergency meeting with his European counterparts on February 17 -- the eve of the first official U.S.-Russia meeting in years -- before agreeing to fly to Washington a week later to meet Trump.
Trump, who has berated European allies for not spending enough on their own defense, shaking the foundations of the 75-year-old NATO alliance, has said he will not supply U.S. troops for any peacekeeping mission in Ukraine.
“We must reject any false choice between our allies. Between one side of the Atlantic or the other. That is against our history, country and party,” Starmer said, calling Britain’s relationship with America his country’s “most important bilateral alliance.”
“This week when I meet President Trump, I will be clear: I want this relationship to go from strength to strength.”
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who spoke with British Defense Minister John Healey on February 25, reacted positively to the announcement, saying in a post on X that it was "a strong step from an enduring partner."
Ukraine has demanded Western security guarantees be part of any negotiated settlement to deter Russia from invading again. Macron told Trump at their White House meeting that European leaders are willing to put peacekeeping troops in Ukraine as part of the security guarantee.
Starmer may seek to leverage his commitment to boost defense funding and deploy peacekeeping forces to Ukraine to convince Trump to backstop European security guarantees for Kyiv.