LONDON: Britain cannot ignore the threat posed by Russia, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday, ahead of the publication of a strategic defense review that is expected to call for greater readiness to fight a modern war.

“We cannot ignore the threat that Russia poses. We’ve seen what’s happened in Ukraine just over three years ago,” Starmer told the BBC, when asked if Britain would have to send troops to fight in a future European conflict.

The United Kingdom will build new nuclear-powered attack submarines and create an army ready to fight a war in Europe as part of a boost to military spending designed to send a message to Moscow — and Washington.

“We have to recognize the world has changed,” Starmer told the BBC. “With greater instability than there has been for many, many years, and greater threats.”

Deterring Russia

NATO chief Mark Rutte says leaders of the 32 member countries will debate a commitment to spend at least 3.5 percent of GDP on defense when they meet in the Netherlads this month.

Like other NATO members, the UK has been reassessing its defense spending since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia is attacking the UK daily, with 90,000 cyberattacks from state-linked sources directed at the UK’s defense over the last two years. A cyber command to counter such threats is expected to be set up as part of the review.

Bolstering Europe’s defenses

European countries, led by the UK and France, have scrambled to coordinate their defense posture as Trump transforms American foreign policy, seemingly sidelining Europe as he looks to end the war in Ukraine. Trump has long questioned the value of NATO and complained that the US provides security to European countries that don’t pull their weight.

Robert Jenrick, justice spokesman for the main opposition Conservative Party, called on the government to be more ambitious and raise spending to 3 percent of national income by 2029.

“We think that 2034 is a long time to wait, given the gravity of the situation,” he told Sky News.

ISTANBUL: Delegations from Russia and Ukraine gathered in Turkiye on Monday for their second round of direct peace talks in just over two weeks, although expectations were low for any significant progress on ending the three-year war.
The Ukrainian delegation led Defense Minister Rustem Umerov was in Istanbul for the meeting, according to Heorhii Tykhyi, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, said in a message posted on the Ukrainian Embassy Whatsapp group. The Russian delegation headed by Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, arrived Sunday evening, Russian state media reported.
Turkish officials said the meeting would start at 1 p.m. local time, with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan presiding over the talks and officials from the Turkish intelligence agency also present.
However, Ukrainian spokesperson Tykhyi said the start would be at midday local time. It was not immediately possible to clarify the discrepancy.
Recent comments by senior officials in both countries indicate they remain far apart on the key conditions for stopping the war. Fierce fighting has in the meantime continued along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, and both sides have hit each other’s territory with deep strikes.
On Sunday, a Ukrainian drone attack destroyed more than 40 Russian planes deep inside Russia, Ukraine’s Security Service said, while Moscow pounded Ukraine with missiles and drones.
Russian air defenses downed 162 Ukrainian drones over eight Russian regions overnight, as well as over the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Monday.
Ukrainian air defenses damaged 52 out of 80 drones launched by Russia overnight, the Ukrainian air force said.
Two ballistic missiles struck a residential neighborhood in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Monday morning, including one that hit near a school, the city’s mayor said.
One missile landed near an apartment building, while the second struck a road near the school, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said in a statement and published a photo of a wide crater.
“Standing next to the crater, you realize how different it all could have been,” Terekhov wrote. “A few more meters — and it would have hit the building. A few more minutes — and cars, buses would have been on the road.”
No casualties were reported.