Keir Starmer to deploy UK warships to the Arctic following Trump’s Greenland threats
Keir Starmer said Europe should be ready to “fight” against Russian aggression, announcing that Britain would deploy warships and warplanes to the Arctic later this year.
The move, announced at the Munich Security Conference, will be seen as an attempt to appease Donald Trump, who has threatened to annex Greenland, citing security concerns in the region.
But while the Prime Minister welcomed what he said would be a showcase of the trans-Atlantic relationship, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned the continent’s leaders of their mistakes and said America needed a partner with the “will to survive”.
This came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky lashed out at the United States, saying his country had been asked to make concessions to Russia “too often” in American-brokered peace talks and that Europe had been pushed aside.
During an eventful day at the summit:
- Sir Keir chided President Trump, saying “make no mistake – Britain will come to your aid today if called upon.”
- The Prime Minister said that Britain should be in closer alignment with the EU on economy and defense, and received great applause: “We are no longer the Britain of the Brexit years.”
- He attacked Reform as “pro-Putin” and accused Farage’s party and the Greens of “division followed by capitulation”; which would cause “the lights to go out in Europe once again”.
- Sir Keir denied that he had “very narrowly missed” the ouster and said he had finished this week “much stronger than when I started and it’s a very good place to be”.
Speaking at the event on Saturday morning, Sir Keir said leaders should not hesitate as “Russia has proven its appetite for aggression”.
He warned that even if there was a peace deal for Ukraine, Russia’s rearmament would “only accelerate.”
“We must respond fully to this threat,” he said. “The road ahead is straight and open. We must build our hard power because this is the currency of the age.
“We must be able to deter aggression and, yes, be ready to fight if necessary.”
Announcing the warships, the prime minister said the United States, Canada and other British forces were trying to improve security in the region known as the High North.
President Trump claimed that Europe was not doing enough to defend Greenland, which is strategically important to the United States, against threats from Russia and China.
During his speech, Sir Keir also lashed out at Mr Trump’s claims that he was unsure whether other NATO allies would come to the US’s defence.
Article 5, one of the founding principles of the alliance, states that an attack on one NATO member is considered an attack on all NATO members. It was used only once, after the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York.
“Rest assured that the United Kingdom will come to your aid today if called upon,” he told the president.
As the world approaches the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine later this month, Britain understands the “urgency” of the need to establish closer defense ties with the EU, he said.
In a move likely to infuriate Brexiteers in the country, he also said Britain should move towards “deeper economic integration” with the EU, aiming to “get closer to the single market” in a range of sectors. As he tried to brush off Scottish Labor leader Anas Sarwar’s bid to sack him, he insisted his cabinet was fully on board and said he was “ending the week much stronger than I started it”.
His speech came less than an hour after Mr. Rubio, who warned Europe that the United States does not want to be the gatekeeper of the West’s “decline.”
He criticized countries that he said did not spend enough on defense, not too much on welfare, appeased a climate “cult” to their own economic detriment, allowed too much immigration, and failed to defend their history by challenging what he described as “a malaise of despair and complacency.”
But Mr Zelensky also attacked the US, saying: “Americans often turn to the issue of concessions, and these concessions are most often discussed only in the context of Ukraine, not in the context of Russia.”
And he said he hoped the United States would continue to be involved in the negotiations and that Europe would have the opportunity to play a larger role.
“Europe is practically not on the table. In my opinion, this is a big mistake,” he said.
