The News
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer unveiled a sweeping new defense spending plan he said would move the UK to “war-fighting readiness,” in a bid to counter a climate of heightened global threats, including the years-long war in Ukraine.
Starmer pledged to boost defense spending to 3% of GDP by 2034, build new submarines and munitions factories to revive the UK’s hollowed-out armed forces, and adopt a “NATO-first” approach, saying that the country would “innovate and accelerate innovation at a wartime pace.”
The Trump administration has consistently attacked what it says is weak defense spending by Europe, demanding that NATO members spend at least 5% of their GDP on security.
The UK’s announcement came as Ukraine and Russia launched a series of major attacks over the weekend as peace talks look tenuous.