British defense spending will reach 2.5% of GDP by 2027, as stated by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, setting the largest sustained increase in the country's Defense budget since the end of the Cold War, according to Reuters.
"We will meet our commitment to spend 2.5% of GDP on Defense, but we will bring it forward to reach that level by 2027," he explained.
In a statement in the House of Commons, the Labour leader announced that he even expects to raise that Defense budget to 3% during the next term. This increase will come at the expense of the UK's budget for international development aid, which will decrease from 0.5% to 0.3% of GDP over the period, Starmer added.
"Tyrants like Putin only respond to force," said the Prime Minister, according to the BBC, while also urging the UK to stand by Ukraine.
Starmer will travel to Washington on Thursday to try to convince US President Donald Trump that security guarantees are necessary for any ceasefire agreement with Russia in Ukraine, Efe reports.
Starmer's visit to Washington comes shortly after French President Emmanuel Macron's trip to the US capital, where he stated on Monday that a "truce" is possible "in the coming weeks".
Keir Starmer's main goal will be to persuade Trump and the US to provide a security net, possibly in the form of air cover and logistics, for a potential deployment of European troops to Ukraine to monitor a ceasefire.
The UK and France lead the proposal to send a "security force" of thousands of European soldiers to protect Ukraine in case the fighting stops.