London should consider the possibility of resuming negotiations on a defense pact with the EU, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, quoted by the newspaper "Guardian".
Starmer stressed that Europe must "take the initiative and do more" to defend itself in these uncertain times.
The Prime Minister expressed a desire to work more closely with other European countries to increase defense spending and build military capacity, one of the options for this is through the EU scheme "Security Action for Europe" (SAFE). This is a €150 billion EU financial instrument aimed at helping member states step up their defence preparedness.
Following the approval of the first wave of defence funding, the EC last week approved a second set of national defence plans under the "Security Action for Europe".
Negotiations for the UK to join the defence fund collapsed in November 2025 because the membership fee was deemed too high.
However, there is now growing interest from all parties in concluding an agreement for London to join the future second wave of funding under the "Security Action for Europe" scheme, especially after US President Donald Trump threatened to take over Greenland and criticised NATO, the "Guardian" notes.
Starmer said in response to a journalistic question asked to him while was travelling to China on his visit, whether Britain could join the second wave of the defence pact if the price was right: "Europe, including Britain, needs to do more on security and defence... This is an argument I have been making for many months".
"We need to mobilise and do more. It's not just President Trump who thinks Europe needs to do more, other presidents do too. I think so too. That's why we have committed to more spending. I think we need to do more than that," the British leader added.
European Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and other EU officials are expected to visit London next week for talks.