GovWire

Thank you, Mark itsvery good to be here.

I should say its very good to be back here.

And as you know, the UKs commitment to NATO is stronger than ever

Because the need for NATO is clearer than ever.

Weve hada very good andproductive discussion today

On how we can meet the rising threats that Russia poses across our continent

Including the situation, of course,in Ukraine.

A couple of weeks ago, as you know,I was in Kyiv

I saw residential buildings, destroyed just days before.

I met soldiers in the ICU

Recovering from really terrible burns.

And I met children, whose parents are out there now

On the frontline.

And, its yet another reminder

That this is anota war not justinUkraine

Its a waronUkraine

Against those children and their future.

Thats why together

We stand with them.

We are all working to end this war

But lets be absolutely clear

Peace will come through strength.

And we must do all we can now to support Ukraines defence

And that meansstabilisingthe front line

Providing the kit and the training they need.

And thats why, this year

The UK will give more military support to Ukraine than ever

before.

We need to see all allies stepping up particularly in Europe.

President Trump has threatened more sanctions on Russia

And its clear that thats got Putin rattled.

We know that hes worried about the state of the Russian economy.

So Im here to work with our European partners on keeping up the

pressure

Targeting the energy revenues and the companies supplying his

missile factories

To crush Putins war machine.

Because ultimately

Alongside our military support

That is what will bring peace closer.

And we must keep working together to bolster NATO.

And as you say, things that would have provoked utter outrage, just a few years

ago

Have now become almost commonplace:

Russian spy ships loitering off the British coast

A campaign of sabotage across Europe

Cyber-attacks, election interference, and attempted assassinations.

Russia is seeking to destabiliseourcontinent targetourvalues.

So we should still be outraged.

And we must harden Europeansdefence.

In the UK we are proud to bea leading NATO ally

Part of the Forward Land Forces

Helping to police our skies and patrol our seas.

Our defence spending is of course2.3% of GDP now

And we are workinghard work to set the path to 2.5%

And NATO plans and requirements

As well as the principle of NATO First

Will be at the heart of our Strategic Defence Review this year.

Across Europe, wemust shoulder more of the burden now

Because it is our burden to carry.

Now thats what Ill be discussing at the EU Council this evening.

We want to deliver an ambitious UK-EU Security partnership

To bolster NATO

Covering military technology and R&D

Improving the mobility of forces across Europe

Protecting our critical infrastructure

And deepening our industrial collaboration toincrease defence production.

We cant be commentators when it comes to matters of peace on

our continent.

We must lead.

And that is what Im determined to do.

Thank you so much Mark.