𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Sir Keir Starmer has admitted there is heightened “tension” between Donald Trump and Europe. The US President has lashed out at some Nato nations for what he sees as their lack of support for Washington in Iran, most recently announcing plans to withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany.

The Prime Minister warned of strained relations during the European Political Community summit in Armenia on Monday, which was dominated by the conflicts in Ukraine and Iran. It comes amid concerns over Mr Trump’s waning interest in the former and attacks on allies over their stance on the latter.

Speaking at the summit, Sir Keir said: “We cannot deny that some of the alliances that we have come to rely on are not in the place we would want them to be.

“There is more tension in the alliances than there should be and it’s very important that we therefore face up to this as a group of countries together.”

The Prime Minister also said the damage done to economies around the world by the Middle East crisis would “play out with our electorates in all of our countries”.

His trip to Yerevan comes as Labour is expected to face a drubbing in this week’s local elections.

Sir Keir announced that Britain would start talks to access the European Union’s 90 billion euro (£78 billion) loan for Kyiv.

The loan initiative, recently approved by the EU after Viktor Orban’s defeat in Hungarian elections ended a long-running impasse, could create opportunities for British defence firms to compete for contracts in return for a financial contribution from the UK which could reportedly reach up to £400 million.

In a summary of a meeting on Ukraine tht Sir Keir co-chaired with France in the margins of the summit, a Downing Street spokeswoman said: “The leaders discussed the European Union’s £78 billion loan to Ukraine, and the Prime Minister underlined the opportunity the UK’s involvement would bring for both Ukraine and European security.”

Other attendees included leaders from Ukraine, France, Italy, Poland, Norway, Finland, Nato, the European Commission and the European Council – as well as Canada, the first non-European nation to participate in the EPC.