West facing ‘war on two fronts’ Starmer warns at defence summit
Western nations are facing a “war on two fronts”, Sir Keir Starmer has warned, as he meets allies at a major European defence summit.
The invasion of Ukraine and the US-Israel conflict with Iran are the two major arenas of war impacting European nations, the Prime Minister said at the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) leaders’ summit in Finland.
Sir Keir gave approval for British forces to begin seizing Russian shadow fleet tankers as he arrived in Helsinki for the gathering.
Britain’s commandos will begin halting and boarding the ships as a means of tightening a stranglehold on Moscow’s illicit oil exports.
Speaking to broadcasters as the summit began, Sir Keir said: “The focus here is very much on Russian aggression in Ukraine and we have to accept that there’s a war on two fronts – there’s the Iranian conflict and the continuing Ukrainian conflict.
“Today I’ll be talking to allies about what more we can do. Of course, there will be discussions about defence spend, also defence capability.
“And today I’ll be making clear to them that I’m giving permission for the UK to intercept shadow fleet, Russian shadow fleet ships, these are ships that are unlawfully breaching sanctions, usually with oil. We’ll be working with others on that project.
“On defence, obviously, I’ve already committed to increasing defence spend. We have the commitments to go further and we will keep those commitments.”
In his first engagement of the summit, Sir Keir met Alexander Stubb, Finland’s president.
At the top of the bilateral meeting on Thursday, the first of the gathering for both leaders, Mr Stubb praised the shared pragmatism of Finland and the UK.
Sir Keir meanwhile said: “The fact that we saw each other last week in London, the fact that I am here today, just shows the closeness not just of our relationship but the relationship between our two countries.”
As he waited to greet Sir Keir at his official residence, Mr Stubb told the media he had been for an early-morning dip in the Baltic Sea.
Asked how long he had spent in the icy waters, he replied: “Exactly 90 seconds.”
The JEF, a military coalition of 10 northern European countries led by the UK, aims to defend against Russian incursions.
It also includes Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.
Moscow’s shadow fleet is reported to be made up of more than a thousand ageing tankers.
They illicitly ship oil and other goods out of Russia by flying the flags of other countries, with the aim of evading sanctions imposed by the West since the invasion of Ukraine began.
JEF countries Finland, Sweden and Estonia have recently intercepted suspected shadow tankers travelling through the Baltic.
Closing off British waters to the shadow fleet is aimed at forcing the Russian vessels into taking longer, more costly sea routes, or risk being intercepted by the UK.
British forces have already been involved in tracking shadow fleet vessels for several years, and have supported operations by other countries to seize the ships.
In January, the UK assisted in the seizure of the oil tanker Marinera by the US.
Previously known as the Bella-1, the Russian-flagged vessel was captured by US forces aided by RAF aircraft and the British supply ship RFA Tideforce in the Atlantic.
Later that same month, Royal Navy patrol boat HMS Dagger helped the French seize another sanctioned ship, the Grinch, in the western Mediterranean, shadowing the vessel through the Strait of Gibraltar.
Last week, the French intercepted the Deyna oil tanker in the Mediterranean, supported by the UK.
Published: by Radio NewsHub