Watch live: Keir Starmer joins EU leaders' defence meeting as first UK PM post-Brexit
Watch live: Keir Starmer joins EU leaders' defence meeting as first UK PM post-Brexit
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Watch live as Sir Keir Starmer arrives in Brussels on Monday, 3 February, as the first UK prime minister to join a meeting of European Union leaders since Brexit. The PM will place security and defence at the heart of his post-Brexit reset with the EU, calling on leaders in Brussels to stand together and double down on their support for Ukraine. Sir Keir will challenge Britain’s European allies to ramp up their defence spending to keep the continent safe from Vladimir Putin’s “campaign of sabotage and destruction” in a discussion with EU heads of state.
He will also call on fellow leaders to maintain pressure on the Russian president by continuing sanctions that have crippled Putin’s nation since his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Monday’s meeting is set to be overshadowed by the threat of an international trade war as Donald Trump warned tariffs would be imposed on the EU “pretty soon”. Asked by the BBC early on Monday if he would target the UK with tariffs, the American president said: "UK is out of line but I'm sure that one, I think that one can be worked out.
"But the European Union, it's an atrocity what they've done.". Mr Trump added: "I wouldn't say there's a timeline, but it's going to be pretty soon. "The United States has been ripped off by virtually every country in the world. We have deficits with almost every country – not every country – but almost, and we're going to change it. It's been unfair.". The US president has already announced he will impose 25 per cent trade taxes on goods coming from America’s nearest neighbours and largest trade partners – Canada and Mexico – as well as a 10 per cent levy on Chinese goods.
