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Sir Keir Starmer has for the first time lifted the lid on his Brexit reset plans for a new defence pact with the EU.
It came as the prime minister issued a rallying call to the European Union for closer defence cooperation in an exclusive interview with The Independent.
As Sir Keir prepares for a Donald Trump presidency with the potential of the US withdrawing support from Ukraine and Europe, he shared his vision for co-ordination across funding, training and the use of British troops.
Sitting down with The Independent in Estonia, the prime minister said the UK must work “as effectively as we can with our partners” to bolster Ukraine‘s position amid an increasingly volatile global landscape and heightened tensions with Russia.
His remarks come as the Kremlin threatens retaliation after Ukraine claimed responsibility for the scooter-bomb assassination of a top Russian general in Moscow on Tuesday morning.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said Ukraine faces imminent revenge for the “cowardly and despicable” action, the RIA state news agency reported, after Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov and his assistant were killed in the strike.
Sir Keir, who was in Tallinn for the Joint Expeditionary Force summit taking place on Monday and Tuesday, has previously said he wants a defence and security pact with the EU, something he said would be complementary to Nato.
Asked what this increased cooperation would look like in practice, the prime minister said it would involve co-ordination on defence capability, funding and training, pointing to British troops training in Norway and those stationed in Estonia as an example of how the UK could work with its allies.
In December, Norwegian, US and UK air forces conducted the Norwegian-led exercise Apex Buccaneer in the High North. There are around 1,000 British troops currently deployed in Estonia.
“We are living in an ever more volatile world – you can feel that intensely in relation to the situation in Ukraine”, Sir Keir told The Independent.
“We’re at a critical point and it’s really important that we double down and are clear that we must put Ukraine in the strongest possible position, whether there are negotiations or not.
“That means increasing capability, it means increasing funding and it means increasing training – that has to be coordinated. We have to cooperate.”
The prime minister added: “We’ve got more troops now training in the High North with Norway. You’ll go to see the troops in Tapa tomorrow, and there we’re integrated on the front as part of the advanced troops.”
Pointing to North Korean troops that have reportedly joined Russian forces in Ukraine, the prime minister warned: “You can see that the conflict in Ukraine is already broader than a European conflict. And, of course, you can make the links between that and the actors in the Middle East, particularly Iran.
“For all those reasons it’s very important to be here with the message that we must double down and put Ukraine in the strongest possible position and coordinate as effectively as we can with our partners – which is what the JEF meeting tomorrow is really all about”.
His comments come just weeks before Donald Trump returns to power in the United States, with concern looming over his commitment to Nato after he suggested he could abandon the alliance if EU countries do not boost defence contributions.
Sir Keir, who has pledged to improve relations with the European Union after years of tense relations under successive Tory prime ministers, signed a new defence cooperation agreement with Germany in October aimed at boosting security, investment and jobs in both nations.
The government also signed a defence roadmap with Estonia in October and agreed to co-operation on missile defence.
The joint declaration, signed at a meeting of Nato Defence Ministers, means thousands of British troops will be on standby ready to defend Nato’s eastern flank, in addition to those deployed in Estonia.
But he has been encouraged to go further, with his own MPs last month telling The Independent the PM should move faster in his mission for EU cooperation on defence.
Calvin Bailey, who served in the RAF for 24 years and is now the Labour MP for Leyton and Wanstead, called for “an acceleration of the government’s work to rebuild our partnerships on the continent” in order to promote security at home and abroad.
He told The Independent that the UK should prioritise cooperation with Europe in Labour’s Strategic Defence Review – a “root and branch review” of UK defence – launched by Sir Keir when he took office.
And David Taylor, the Labour MP for Hemel Hempstead and a member of the international development committee, praised the government’s work in pushing for a bespoke UK-EU defence pact as part of Sir Keir’s Brexit reset, but called for ministers to “go faster to make this closer cooperation a reality as soon as possible”.
“With Russian tyranny on our doorstep, increasing threats from the Middle East, and cooperation among our enemies elsewhere, it’s vital we have a strong and capable military and one that is connected with our European allies”, he said.
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