10:10 GMT
Harry Farley
Political correspondent
A US delegation is heading to Saudi Arabia for talks with Russia, aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, US officials say.
There has been concern that Europe and the UK could be
side-lined in these talks. It’s that fear that has led to this hastily-arranged
summit tomorrow in Paris.
The meeting will be convened by French President Emmanuel
Macron. Sir Keir Starmer, who earlier said this was “a once in a generation
moment for our national security”, will also attend.
No 10 sources told the BBC last night that they think the UK is
well-placed to try and be that bridge between the US and some of the European
leaders who have been criticising President Donald Trump in last few
days.
The question that immediately arises, however, is what this all means for
the UK and UK defence spending. Remember, Labour promised to set out a path to
spend 2.5% of GDP on defence. But there is no immediate timescale for when that
will happen, and military chiefs in last few days said UK must go further than
2.5%.
Yesterday, the former head of the Army Lord Dannatt told
the BBC that the UK military is “so run down” it could not lead any future peacekeeping
mission in Ukraine. He warned a failure to raise defence spending significantly
will “consign Keir Starmer to the bin of history.”