TL:DR – Starmer sends additional warships, warns ‘Europe must prepare to confront Russia’
- Sir Keir Starmer addressed the Munich Security Conference, emphasising Europe’s need to prepare for a potential conflict with Russia over Ukraine.
- He stated that leaders must be proactive, as Russia exhibits consistent aggression.
- Starmer warned that any peace deal would likely lead to accelerated Russian rearmament and reiterated the necessity to confront this threat.
- He announced the UK will deploy the HMS Prince of Wales in the North Atlantic alongside NATO allies to reinforce Euro-Atlantic security.
Starmer deploys more warships warning ‘Europe must be ready to fight Russia’ | News UK
Europe must be ready to fight against Russia as Putin continues his bombardment in Ukraine, Sir Keir Starmer told the Munich Security Conference.
The Prime Minister said: ‘Now we feel the solidity of peace, the very ground that we stand on softening under our feet.
‘It’s the job of leaders to be ahead of these seismic shapes, yet that is against the grain of history.’
He said leaders must not dither as ‘Russia has proved its appetite for aggression’.
He continued that after a peace deal for Ukraine, ‘Russia’s rearmament would only accelerate’ and ‘we must answer this threat in full’.
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‘To break the convention of a thousand speeches, we are not at a crossroads.
Keir Starmer has committed to sending the HMS Prince of Wales to the Arctic (Picture: UK MOD Crown copyright)
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaking during the Munich Security Conference (Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)
‘The road ahead is straight and it is clear. We must build our hard power, because that is the currency of the age.
‘We must be able to deter aggression, and, yes, if necessary, we must be ready to fight.’
He also announced the UK will deploy its carrier strike group to the North Atlantic and High North region this year.
It will be led by the HMS Prince of Wales, ‘operating alongside the US, Canada and other NATO allies’.
He said: ‘It is a powerful show of our commitment to Euro-Atlantic security,” he adds.
‘That is also why we’re enhancing our nuclear cooperation with France. For decades, the United Kingdom has been the only nuclear power in Europe to commit its deterrent to protect all NATO members.’