UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will visit Washington D.C. on Thursday.
According to NYT, he’ll pledge to increase UK’s military spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product by 2027, and to 3%within a decade.
“That addresses one of Mr. Trump’s core grievances: his contention that Europeans are free riders, sheltering under an American security umbrella,” the NYT writes.
The build-up will be financed through Britain’s overseas development aid cuts, the motive of which NYT describes as “budgetary not ideological” but such that “Mr. Trump might approve” given “Mr. Trump’s dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development.”
The NYT references British officials who say that Starmer would combine his confidence-building gestures on defense with strong support for Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy while warning against a rushed peace deal with Russia’s ruler Vladimir Putin.
“The key thing is, we don’t want to repeat the previous mistakes in dealing with Putin, in going for a truce or cease-fire that doesn’t convert into a durable peace,” said Peter Mandelson, who became Britain’s ambassador to Washington three weeks ago and has helped arrange the visit. He added that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth praised Mr. Starmer’s announcement of increased military spending. Mr. Hegseth called it a “strong step from an enduring partner.”
President Zelenskyy is slated to travel to Washington D.C. Friday to sign the minerals deal.
