Ukraine-Russia war latest: Starmer willing to send British forces to police Ukraine border

Wes Streeting said the armed forces have been “run down” when asked about concerns raised by former head of the British Army General Lord Dannatt.

The health secretary was asked on BBC Breakfast about Lord Dannatt’s comments that spending 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence does not “touch the sides” and his estimate that some 30,000 British troops might have to be deployed under a potential peacekeeping force in Ukraine.

He said it was “certainly not for me to speculate this morning” on how many troops could be needed.

On Lord Dannatt’s concerns that the UK military does not have the equipment or numbers, he said: “We don’t dispute that over the course of the last decade Britain’s defence has been run down by our Conservative predecessors.”

Asked if the pressure was on to go beyond 2.5 per cent, he said: “Well, as I say, we came into government with a clear commitment to get up to 2.5 per cent and we’re having to do that alongside grappling with a wide range of challenges.

“That’s why sometimes we’re having to say no when people are going coming along with some very worthy things for investment and saying, ‘I’m sorry, but we can’t afford to do that right now’.”

He did not answer the question of whether that meant saying no to lifting defence spending to 3 per cent or 3.5 per cent.

Cabinet minister Wes Streeting has said it is “premature” to talk about how many British troops could be sent to Ukraine after Sir Keir Starmer said he was prepared to send a peacekeeping force in the event of a deal to end the war.

The health secretary told Times Radio: “The prime minister will be travelling to France to meet with other European Nato leaders to discuss what is a once-in-a-generation moment for the collective security of our continent, which isn’t just about the future of Ukraine, it is an existential question for Europe as a whole.

“That’s why the gathering today is important. Next week, he’ll be travelling to Washington to meet with President Trump, no doubt relaying the outcome of some of those discussions today.”

Asked what the scale of a potential peacekeeping force could be and if the government would be prepared to carry out a recruitment drive, he said: “I think it’s premature to be talking about numbers.”

He reiterated plans to be “on a path to 2.5 per cent” when asked if spending 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence was the limit or if the government could go higher.

Britain has not got the forces or equipment “to put a large force on to the ground for an extended period of time”, a former head of the British Army has warned.

Lord Richard Dannatt, who was chief of the general staff between 2006 and 2009, told BBC Breakfast that Sir Keir Starmer has “got to realise that’s going to come at a considerable cost” if he wants to put boots on the ground in Ukraine.

Asked for his reaction to the prime minister’s comments in the Daily Telegraph, Lord Dannatt said: “My reaction is the prime minister is doing the right thing. But, of course, doing the right thing comes at a price.

“If the prime minister is serious about wanting to deploy British troops, put boots on the ground in Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force, he’s got to realise that’s going to come at a considerable cost.”

Lord Dannatt later added: “Frankly, we haven’t got the numbers and we haven’t got the equipment to put a large force onto the ground for an extended period of time at the present moment.

“Now, if Keir Starmer wants to do that, that’s fine. The British Army will always stand up to the plate, but here we go again. We’ve got to have the right number of people with the right equipment and the right training, and start to fund that now.”

Russia launched 147 drones during an overnight attack, the Ukrainian military said this morning.

Out of the 147, Ukraine’s air force shot down 83 and 59 more did not reach their targets, likely due to electronic countermeasures.

French president Emmanuel Macron has called leaders from key EU nations and the UK to the Elysee Palace today for an emergency meeting on how to deal with the US, a once rock-solid partner.

The move follows a week–long diplomatic blitz on Ukraine by the Trump administration that seemed to embrace the Kremlin while it offered the cold-shoulder to many of its age-old European allies.

Despite belligerent warnings for months prior to Donald Trump’s reelection, EU leaders publicly hoped Mr Trump would stand by their side when it came to Ukraine’s defence.

But a flurry of speeches by vice president JD Vance and defence secretary Pete Hegseth during their initial visits to Europe last week questioned both Europe’s security commitments and its fundamental democratic principles.

Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s foreign minister, called this week “an existential moment. It’s a moment where Europe has to stand up.”Mr Macron will have afternoon talks with the leaders of Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark and the European Union on how to deal with Europe’s security quandary. Nato secretary general Mark Rutte will also attend.

French officials said no firm decisions are expected to emerge beyond a show of unity of European leaders.”There is a wind of unity blowing over Europe, as we perhaps have not felt since the Covid period,” said French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot.

The European Union must be involved in negotiations with Russia over the end of the Ukraine war in order to map out Europe’s future security, EU Council president Antonio Costa told the Financial Times in an interview published on Monday.

“If Trump really wants that the Europeans assume greater responsibility for their own security, then of course the Europeans need to be the key actor in designing the new security architecture,” he said.

“It is not only about Ukraine. The negotiations on the new security architecture need to take into account that Russia is a global threat, not only a threat to Ukraine.”

US secretary of state Marco Rubio arrived in Saudi Arabia this morning ahead of expected talks with Russian officials aimed at ending Moscow’s nearly three-year war in Ukraine.

The talks come after president Donald Trump last week spoke to Russian president Vladimir Putin by phone and ordered top officials to begin negotiations on the war, which he repeatedly vowed to end during his presidential campaign.

Riyadh, which is also involved in talks with Washington over the future of the Gaza Strip, has played a role in early contacts between the Trump administration and Moscow, helping to secure a prisoner swap last week.

Mr Rubio, who spoke by phone with his Russian counterpart foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday, will meet Russian officials in Saudi Arabia alongside Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz and White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, a US lawmaker and a source told Reuters. It was not immediately clear who they would meet from Russia.

Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that the talks would take place tomorrow in the Saudi capital Riyadh, citing unnamed sources.

The talks will be among the first high-level in-person discussions in years between Russian and US officials and are meant to precede a meeting between the US and Russian presidents.

Mr Rubio on Sunday said the coming weeks and days would determine whether Mr Putin is serious about making peace.

“I told them that I want the equivalent of like $500 billion worth of rare earths, and they’ve essentially agreed to do that.”

China, with whom Trump has threatened a trade war, is the world’s largest producer of rare earths and many other critical minerals. Both the U.S and Europe have sought to reduce their dependence on Beijing.

The acceleration in Ukraine diplomacy means Europe needs to do more and in a better way, a French presidency official said ahead of informal talks later on Monday among several key European leaders in Paris.

US president Donald Trump stunned European allies in Nato and Ukraine last week when he announced he had held a call with Russian president Vladimir Putin without consulting them and would start a peace process.

Mr Trump’s Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg jolted Europe further on Saturday when he said it would not have a seat at the table for the peace talks, even after Washington sent a questionnaire to European capitals to ask what they could contribute to security guarantees for Kyiv.

In the same six-point questionnaire, the US asked European allies in Nato what they would need from Washington to participate in Ukraine security arrangements.

“We believe that, as a result of the acceleration on the Ukrainian issue, and also as a result of what American leaders are saying, there is a need for Europeans to do more, better and in a coherent manner for our collective security,” the official told reporters.