Europe must face up to ‘tensions’ with Trump, Keir Starmer says

Keir Starmer has acknowledged that “tensions” between Donald Trump and Europe are high as he attends a summit of the European Political Community dominated by the conflicts in Ukraine and Iran. With European leaders concerned over the US president’s waning interest in the Ukraine war, the prime minister will use the summit in Armenia to begin negotiations to participate in the European Union’s loan scheme for Kyiv. Trump has also attacked traditional allies – including the UK – over their stance on the Iran conflict. Starmer said the damage done to economies around the world by the Middle East crisis would “play out” with electorates across Europe . As the Nato military alliance comes under intense pressure from Trump’s threats, Starmer told the summit: “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.” If the UK’s effort to join the EU’s £78bn recovery loan scheme for Ukraine is successful, British defence firms would be able to provide equipment for Kyiv in return for a financial contribution of up to £400m, expected to come from the £3bn already ringfenced for Ukraine. But the EU expects the UK to go further in contributing to its budgets, in return for further access to its markets, after Starmer called for “deeper economic integration”. …