PEACE campaigners slammed the continued rise in British military spending today as Sir Keir Starmer said Britain was ready to send troops to police a Ukrainian peace.

The Prime Minister hosted a summit at London’s Lancaster House today with European leaders, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte and the presidents of the European Commission and European Council, all showing their support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who also attended.

The summit followed an extraordinary row between Mr Zelensky, US President Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance last week at the White House.

The US was not represented at the summit — underlining the deepening rift between European leaders and Washington. 

Sir Keir told leaders it was time for them to step up and continue to support Kiev and meet a “once in a generation moment” for the security of Europe.

After the meeting he said a “coalition of the willing” could be sent to Ukraine to police a ceasefire, with British “troops on the ground and planes in the air,” but acknowledged that not all countries present had been willing to commit. He did not say which had and which hadn’t.

Earlier the PM had said that he, French President Emmanuel Macron and Mr Zelensky had agreed to work on a plan to stop the fighting, and to put that in front of the US.

The White House has already begun direct talks with Russia to hammer out a deal to end the war.

Sir Keir outlined three principles for a successful peace deal: arming the Ukrainians to put them in a position of strength; a European element to guarantee security; and a “US backstop,” to prevent Russia’s Vladimir Putin from breaking promises. Mr Trump has repeatedly rejected the idea of US involvement in security guarantees.

Last week Sir Keir pledged to boost military spending to 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product by 2027 after a demand by President Trump, with the Tories and Liberal Democrats demanding a road map to 3 per cent.

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament general secretary Sophie Bolt slammed Sir Keir’s plans to hike military spending while portraying himself as a peacemaker.

She said the Prime Minister “presents himself as both lead warmonger for Europe and Mr Trump’s sidekick, parroting his ‘peace through strength’ rhetoric.

“The push for huge military spending hikes and boots on the ground will bankrupt economies and drag populations into greater poverty while massively increasing the risk of military confrontation.”

Ms Bolt added: “A genuine peace deal for Ukraine needs to move away from militarisation towards sustainable peace in the region. And it also means opposing Trump’s outrageous colonialist exploitation of Ukraine’s huge mineral wealth.”

Lindsey German, the national convener of the Stop the War Coalition, also pointed to the hypocrisy of talking peace while ramping up military spending.

Ms German said: “Only days ago Starmer was urging Ukraine to fight to the bitter end. Now he’s shuttling between Trump and Zelensky trying to find an alternative peace deal. 

“While a deal to end the war is welcome, no-one should trust Starmer who is ramping up military spending. Working-class people have nothing to gain from militarism and war.”

Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn told the Morning Star: “From the beginning, I opposed Russia’s invasion and called for an end to the conflict as soon as possible to save human life. 

“Three years on, and hundreds of thousands of grieving mothers later, I renew this urgent call for peace.”

The Communist Party executive committee today condemned the British government’s decision to increase military spending by £13 billion on top of the current £54bn annual commitment. 

CPB general secretary Rob Griffiths said: “This grotesque arms race can be funded only by running down public services and the welfare state. 

“It is no coincidence  that those nations, Britain included, which sabotaged the Istanbul peace agreement in 2022, are creating obstacles to an early end to the war in Ukraine.”

Executive editor of Black Agenda Report Margaret Kimberley said: “Britain is not a world power, nor is France or the other European countries deluding themselves into thinking they can drive events in Ukraine.” 

The US-based journalist added that in the past the Europeans “were loyal US vassals but now delude themselves into thinking they ever had an equal partnership with the US. Donald Trump has disabused them of such notions. They would do well to change course.”

Europe has been scrambling to maintain its relevance to Ukraine since Mr Trump returned to power.

Short visits to the Oval Office last week by French President Emmanuel Macron and Sir Keir were portrayed as steps in the right direction. 

Even so, President Trump would not commit to providing US security guarantees and maintained that Europe would need to provide peacekeeping troops — a proposal the Russians have already made clear would be unacceptable to them.

And everything was thrown into chaos after an extraordinary exchange in the White House on Friday between Presidents Trump and Zelensky.

During the heated exchange, the Ukrainian president was accused of being ungrateful for US support.

Within 12 hours of Sir Keir’s return from Washington, the talk of peace seemed to collapse as President Trump accused the Ukrainian leader of “gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III.”

With Ukraine no longer being able to count on military or political support from the US, Mr Zelensky has shifted his focus to securing weaponry from Europe.

But this signals a further breach in the transatlantic military alliance — something the Europeans now appear to be waking up to.

Mr Macron, who said it was legitimate for the US to shift its focus to dealing with China and Asia, also called for increased military spending.