浪花直播

This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity.
 

We can't be sure what is going to come out of the talks in Brussels, even when they finished, because a lot of discussion will go on afterwards. The main proposal seems to be from Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the commission. What she is proposing is a way to increase the amount of money available for individual member states to be able to boost the defense spending.

She's looking at it both from altering the fiscal rules that apply so that they've got more headroom to use money, without bumping up against the requirements that they have from Brussels. She's also looking at what the commission can do by way of investment into defense industries, into defense spending, and especially, as she said to the president of Ukraine when he arrived this morning, to make sure that they're able to deliver on consignments of weapons, ammunition and support to Ukraine over these coming weeks and months.

Prime Minister Starmer, like his predecessors in other UK governments, has been a stalwart of support for the people of Ukraine and, of course, for President Zelensky himself. But he is passionate about the transatlantic relationship. He understands as well as any other prime minister, and they would all say the same thing.

The depth and the strength of the relationship that spans across, what we call the pond, and the importance of trying to make sure that that is retained and is strengthened even further in different circumstances. And all presidents bring different ideas to the table in doing that. He's also determined to show his European allies and colleagues that he is also a European.

We may not be in the European Union, but we are a European country, and that his protection and support for Ukraine is also about the future of Europe. So he is playing that bridge role in, in a way outside of the EU, but nonetheless still playing it as an important part of how we try and retain this strong alliance, which is brought together primarily in NATO.

But he is separately to that, a key part of how we deal with aggression and how we keep Europe safe for the future.