Keir Starmer said the UK is discussing joining a £78bn EU loan scheme for Ukraine, calling it a potential boost to UK-EU defence ties.
Sir Keir Starmer has said the UK is discussing participation in a £78bn (€90bn) European Union loan scheme for Ukraine, describing the move as potentially good for Kyiv, British jobs and relations with Brussels.
The prime minister raised the plan with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the European Political Community summit in Yerevan, Armenia, on Monday. In a joint statement after their meeting, the two leaders said UK participation, if agreed, would mark a “major step forward in the UK-EU defence industrial relationship”
The proposal remains under discussion, and no final UK commitment was announced. But Starmer framed the talks as part of a wider effort to strengthen Ukraine’s defences in the fifth year of Russia’s war while giving UK firms access to future defence-related contracts.
“In relation to the EU loan that we are discussing participating in, that is very good for Ukraine, because it will give Ukraine capability that it desperately needs in year five of this conflict,” Starmer said as he arrived at the summit. “It’s very good for the UK, because of the capability that leads to jobs in the United Kingdom. And it’s very good for UK-EU relations.”
EU leaders approved the loan package last month after Hungary lifted its veto. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachka has described the funding as “a matter of life and death”. Two-thirds of the money is due to support Ukraine’s defence needs, with the remainder intended for broader financial assistance.
The Yerevan summit brought together dozens of European leaders at a moment when Starmer said some long-standing alliances were “not in the place we would want them to be”. He argued that Europe needed to be stronger on defence, trade and energy.
Starmer also met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Armenia on Sunday. According to the report, the prime minister told Zelensky the UK was ready to work with allies to provide support and maintain pressure on Russia in pursuit of a “just and lasting peace” that is right for Ukraine.
Downing Street has said further UK sanctions on Russian companies are expected this week, aimed at disrupting military supply chains. The loan talks also fit into Starmer’s broader push to reset relations with Europe, though he has said closer security and economic cooperation does not amount to reversing Brexit.
The next test is whether the UK and EU can turn the discussions into a formal agreement, including terms that would allow British industry to take part in contracts linked to the Ukraine support package.
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