UK Must Step Up, Go Faster on Defense Spending, Starmer Says

The prime minister’s comments follow calls by UK and German defense chiefs for the public to back an increase in military spending.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Jan 6, 2026. Ludovic Marin/AP

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Feb. 16 that the UK must “step up” its defense and security to deter “the threat of Russian aggression.”

Starmer told reporters that the fourth anniversary of the start of the Ukraine–Russia conflict was approaching, and that even if a peace agreement is made between the two countries, it “will not extinguish the Russian threat, and we need to be alert to that.”