Keir Starmer has suggested the UK needs to be prepared to take on Russia in order to protect a peace deal.
The Prime Minister made the statement following a summit in London with 18 other leaders about ending the war in Ukraine.
Asked whether there is now more of a real prospect of Britain being at war with Russia, Sir Keir Starmer said: “The reason I’ve been forward-leaning on this is because I want to avoid conflict, because I do not want conflict in Ukraine, in Europe…I want stability in the United Kingdom.
“The way to ensure that stability is to ensure that we are able to defend a deal in Ukraine, because the one thing our history tells us is that if there is conflict in Europe, it will wash up on our shores.
“Already, in the last three years, what’s happened in Ukraine has had a massive impact on many working people back here in the United Kingdom because their bills have gone up, their energy bills have gone up. There’s been an instability in our economy caused by that conflict, so we are not unaffected.”
The Prime Minister added: “And of course, our own security and defence depends on the defence and security of Europe. So every step I am taking is in order to preserve peace, to avoid conflict, because the safety and security of the British people is my number one duty and responsibility, and I take it very seriously.”
Sir Keir also said that if a deal is made with Russia, it “has to be defended”.
Speaking to reporters at Lancaster House, he added: “In the end a deal will have to involve Russia, of course it will, but we can’t approach this on the basis that Russia dictates the terms of any security guarantee before we’ve even got to a deal, otherwise we won’t make any progress at all.
“But if a deal is done, it has to be a deal that is then defended, because what we have seen in the past is a cessation of the hostilities without any backup, and that was readily breached by Russia, and that is precisely the situation that I think we need to avoid this time around, which is why we’re going down this road.”
