BRITISH armaments stocks surged today following a Ukraine summit hosted by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer over the weekend.

Weapons and fighter jet manufacturer BAE Systems, a key provider of components to Israel, saw its shares surge by a record 19 per cent.

Engine maker Rolls-Royce followed closely behind with a 6 per cent rise.  

Sir Keir hosted a meeting with 18 world leaders at Lancaster House on Sunday.

After the summit, Sir Keir announced a £1.6 billion finance deal which will allow Ukraine to buy more than 5,000 missiles, which are to be made by Thales in Belfast. It followed his pledge to increase military spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by April 2027.

Other stocks that saw sharp gains included the defence technology group QinetiQ which saw a 9 per cent rise, Babcock International with a 7 per cent increase, and Chemring, which was up by 4 per cent.

But the summit’s attempt to project European unity quickly unravelled, with French President Emmanuel Macron suggesting a month-long truce in Ukraine only for Britain to dismiss the idea.

The government even had to slap down the British ambassador to Washington Peter Mandelson, who advised Mr Zelensky to announce a ceasefire ahead of any Russian commitment to do so.

Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard was forced to clarify that this was “not government policy.”

Lindsey German from Stop the War Coalition said: “The rise in BAE share prices shows that wars are all too profitable for the big companies who have every interest in them continuing.”

Labour MP Richard Burgon called talks of escalating military support in Ukraine “alarming,” saying he welcomed any progress towards a peace deal but was worried by proposals to send British troops.

He said: “We should be totally clear that this risks our country coming into direct military conflict with a nuclear-armed Russia.” In Parliament yesterday, Mr Burgon asked the Prime Minister to commit to a Commons vote before deploying soldiers to Ukraine.