Keir Starmer and John Healey visit BAE Systems to see Britain's Nuclear Submarines (Image: Getty)
Vladimir Putin “appreciates” Britain’s nuclear capabilities and understands they are “credible”, Keir Starmer has declared. The Prime Minister, who will hold talks with military chiefs on Thursday about deploying peacekeepers to Ukraine, said the nuclear deterrent has been “incredibly effective…for decades”.
He said the Kremlin respects the UK’s nuclear arsenal because “we’ve got our own independent deterrent and we’re committed to NATO”. Sir Keir said: “What is obviously important is they appreciate that it is what it is which is a credible capability. And that it most certainly is.
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“It has been an incredibly effective deterrent for decades. We must not take that for granted. Which is why it's good that we’re going to the Dreadnought class.
“The last few years and certainly the last few months have been a reminder across the country and across Europe have been a reminder of how important that first duty of defence and security is.’
Asked whether he believes Putin respects Britain’s nuclear arsenal, the PM replied: “Yes, that’s why the UK within Europe is one of the leading nations on defence and security because we’ve got our own independent deterrent and we’re committed to NATO.”
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Britain has around 225 nuclear missiles, which are carried by Vanguard submarines. They will be replaced by Dreadnought submarines from the 2030s.
Sir Keir will lay the keel for the next generation of Britain's nuclear deterrent submarines when he visits Barrow on Thursday, as he argues his plans to boost defence spending will help fulfil his mission to grow the economy.
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The King is meanwhile due to confer the Port of Barrow with the title "Royal", to recognise the town's contribution towards national security as a hub of submarine building.
Dreadnought will deliver the next generation of our nuclear deterrent, to protect our people and allies from the most extreme threats to our national security and way of life for decades to come.
The Prime Minister on Monday secretly met the crew of HMS Vanguard as it returned from a record deployment.
The Vanguard-class vessel is believed to have been submerged for more than 200 days.
Sir Keir revealed some of the crew members were discovering for the first time that they had become parents, whilst others were learning of bereavements after six months at sea without communication.
He added: “That was quite emotional, meeting the families.
“It was a joyful day for them… They were almost bursting with love.”
The Prime Minister said the families of the crew were excited “to see their loved ones, to know they are safe. They haven’t had any communication for over six months.”
Sir Keir also revealed military chiefs are now preparing to draw up plans to send peacekeepers to Ukraine if a ceasefire can be brokered.
He said: “The fact that we have got to the military plans stage shows this is beyond the speeches given in the political arena.
“Things can move very quickly.
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“There are a lot of moving parts, but we need to be in a position to answer the question of how we are going to defend the peace.
“Zelensky is very clear – Minsk didn’t work because it didn’t have any security guarantees. We have to respect Putin’s ambitions.
“He doesn’t respect a deal that doesn’t have any security guarantees”.
The US said last night that “we have never been closer to peace” following an hour-long call between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky.
It was the first time the pair spoke directly following their bust-up in the Oval Office last month.
Ukraine’s President asked for air defence help in the “frank” conversation with the US President.
A statement from US secretary of state Marco Rubio and Mr Trump's national security adviser Mike Waltz following the "fantastic" call said: “President Zelensky asked for additional air defence systems to protect his civilians particularly Patriot missile systems, and President Trump agreed to work with him to find what was available, particularly in Europe.
Mr Zelensky, who was accused of being ungrateful to the US when he clashed with Mr Trump, repeatedly thanked the US President for “continuing to push humanitarian concerns including the exchange of prisoners of war”.
The leader of the war-torn nation described the call as "positive, very substantive and frank".
The US will share battlefield intelligence again with Ukraine, Mr Trump told him.
Mr Trump also proposed the US take over the running of Ukraine’s energy plants to protect them from Russian strikes.
Mr Zelensky and Mr Trump also agreed to a partial ceasefire on energy.
According to a White House briefing on a call between the two leaders, President Trump “fully briefed President Zelensky on his conversation with Putin and the key issues discussed.
“They reviewed the situation in Kursk and agreed to share information closely between their defense staff as the battlefield situation evolved.
“President Zelensky asked for additional air defense systems to protect his civilians, particularly Patriot missile systems, and President Trump agreed to work with him to find what was available, particularly in Europe.”
The US has moved "beyond" a previously agreed minerals deal with Ukraine, the White House’s spokeswoman said.
She added: “We have never been closer to peace.”
It came as Mr Trump said on Wednesday a Ukraine peace deal was “very much on track”.
But questions over the US president’s claims were increasing last night because Vladimir Putin continued his onslaught against the war-torn country despite an alleged ceasefire on energy and infrastructure.
Mr Trump’s call with Mr Zelensky came less than 24 hours after he held a 90-minute call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.
The White House said Putin and Mr Trump agree the war must end with lasting peace.
But Mr Zelensky said Moscow’s vow not to hit Ukraine's energy infrastructure is “at odds with reality” following a barrage of drone strikes across the country.
“Even last night, after Putin’s conversation with ... Trump, when Putin said that he was allegedly giving orders to stop strikes on Ukrainian energy, there were 150 drones launched overnight, including on energy facilities,” Mr Zelensky said while in Helsinki with Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
Russia responded by saying it had halted its targeting of Ukraine's energy facilities and accused Kyiv of attacking equipment near one of its pipelines.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “Unfortunately, we see that for now there is no reciprocity on the part of the Kyiv regime.”
The White House described the call between Trump and Putin as the first step in a “movement to peace” that Washington hopes will include a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea and eventually a full and lasting end to the fighting.
But there was no indication that Putin backed away from his conditions for a prospective peace deal, which is fiercely opposed by Kyiv.
Shortly after the lengthy phone call between Trump and Putin on Tuesday, air raid sirens sounded in Kyiv, followed by explosions as residents took shelter.
Despite efforts to repel the attack, several strikes hit civilian infrastructure, including two hospitals, a railway and more than 20 houses, Mr Zelenskyy said.
Russian drones were reported over Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Chernihiv, Poltava, Kharkiv, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk, and Cherkasy regions.
The Russian Defence Ministry said its military had launched seven drones at power facilities related to the military-industrial complex in Ukraine’s southern Mykolaiv region but that it shot them down after receiving Putin’s order not to hit energy infrastructure.
The attacks left critics arguing the Russian despot had humiliated Trump just hours after they agreed on a ceasefire on Ukrainian energy and infrastructure.
Despite the White House labelling the two leaders' 90-minute conversation on Tuesday a “great call,” Russia bombed a railway power station in Sloviansk, a city of 100,000 people in the Donetsk region.
It came amid reports that Putin wants international recognition that five Ukrainian regions - Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea - are Russian.
“This is a red line for us,” the Ukrainian president said on Wednesday.
Putin’s resistance to accepting an immediate ceasefire without conditions is “disappointing” and Ukraine has Britain’s “unwavering support”, Downing Street said.
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Sir Keir Starmer said he had reaffirmed the UK’s steadfast backing for Kyiv in a call with Mr Zelensky on Tuesday.
Following their call on Tuesday, Number 10 was asked whether the Prime Minister was satisfied with the outcome of the discussions.
“We obviously welcome President Trump’s efforts to secure a ceasefire in this space, but it is also disappointing that Putin has not agreed to a full-on, immediate ceasefire without conditions, as Ukraine has done,” Sir Keir’s official spokesman said.