The UK’s armed forces minister has said “Europe must prepare” to deter Russia as the “shadow of war” looms. Al Carns warned that countries need to increase their lethality and stop outsourcing it to others. His chilling message comes after NATO’s Secretary General Mark Rutte said Europe was “Russia’s next target”, warning countries to prepare for a “scale of war our grandparents or great-grandparents endured”.
Precarious peace efforts surrounding a US-led plan to end the war in Ukraine are ongoing, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer insisting US President Donald Trump and his European counterparts are aligned on what they want for Kyiv. But relations between Europe and the US are strained after the Trump administration’s national security strategy accused European officials of holding “unrealistic expectations” over the war in Ukraine.
Mr Carns told The Telegraph: “For the last 50 to 60 years, we have been reliant on US security guarantees and now, with multipolar threats facing the US, they may not be as forthright as they have in the past.”
He said while Mr Trump has agreed he is “fully in” NATO and its Article 5 collective defence clause, “there is a resource issue where they need to look both east and west”.
The minister said: “In the past, in wars of choice, we’ve outsourced our lethality to others. We’ve got to make sure that we increase our lethality…across all of our single services.”
He said that having outsourced to the US in the past, Europe and the UK have now pledged to up their game on defence spending, adding: “The shadow of war is knocking on Europe’s door once more.
“That’s the reality. We’ve got to be prepared to deter it. Collectively in NATO, we’ve got to remember that numerically – we outmatch Russia significantly.”
His comments came as Ukraine continues to push back against a US-drafted plan, submitting its own 20-point document to Washington as part of negotiations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the US has proposed a possible “free economic zone” in the Donbas region, which would see Ukrainian forces withdraw and Russia agree to remain where they are and not enter the territory.
He reportedly said there would need to be elections or a referendum for Ukraine to approve any such move.
The UK and French-led coalition of the willing group of countries on Thursday discussed progress on mobilising frozen Russian sovereign assets to use to fund Ukraine and agreed it was a “pivotal moment” for Kyiv and the Euro-Atlantic region.
Mr Zelensky told the meeting he was seeking a framework document on security guarantees from the US that he wanted to be approved by Congress.
He said: “This would mean real, solid, legally binding security guarantees for our country, and they must actually be implemented.”
Mr Trump this week criticised Ukraine’s European allies as “weak” leaders of “decaying” nations failing to “produce” anything as “the war just keeps going on and on”.
But he spoke to Sir Keir, French President Emmanuel and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Wednesday in a call during which they discussed proposals to end the war in “pretty strong terms”, according to Mr Trump.
However, the White House said on Thursday that Mr Trump was “sick of meetings just for the sake of meeting” and “wants action”.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters the US had not committed to sending an official to talks expected on Saturday.
She said: “If there is a real chance of signing a peace agreement, if we feel like those meetings are worthy of someone of the United States’s time this weekend, then we will send a representative.”
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