Britain will join the EU’s 90 billion euro (£78 billion) loan for Ukraine, Sir Keir Starmer has announced.
The Prime Minister said British firms would be able to bid for contracts funded by the EU’s Ukraine Support Loan as he held talks with the “coalition of the willing” in Paris on Monday.
He said: “I have always been clear that the UK will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.
French President Emmanuel Macron greets Keir Starmer ahead of the Coalition of the Willing summit on security guarantees for Ukraine in Paris (Teresa Suarez/AP)AP“This agreement will help ensure Ukraine gets the support it needs to defend itself against Russian aggression, while backing British defence companies, supporting skilled jobs and strengthening our national security.”
The UK opened talks to participate in the loan at the European Political Community summit in Yerevan, Armenia, in May shortly after the electoral defeat of Hungarian leader Viktor Orban cleared the way for the EU to approve the scheme.
The loan is intended to help cover Kyiv’s most urgent defence and budgetary needs in 2026 and 2027, with two-thirds of the total allocated to military spending.
The EU has said the loan will be repaid “by reparations due by Russia to Ukraine”.
Britain will be expected to contribute to the loan, but Downing Street did not say how much this contribution was expected to amount to, only that it would be “proportionate to the value of contracts secured by British industry”.
In May, Sir Keir said the benefit of joining the scheme in jobs, investment and supporting Ukraine “outweighs the cost”.
The announcement came as Sir Keir began his final week as Prime Minister with a trip to Paris for a meeting of Ukraine’s allies.
At the same time, the UK joined the EU in imposing sanctions on Russia-linked “cybercriminals” and attributed a 2025 attack on Poland’s energy infrastructure to hackers from Russia’s cyber-intelligence unit FSB Centre 16.
Sir Keir said: “Working alongside our European allies, we are stepping up support for Ukraine and stepping up pressure on Russia.
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“Together, we are sending a clear message: we will stand united against Russian aggression and continue to defence the security of Europe.”
Speaking to the press after Monday’s talks in Paris, Sir Keir said he was “proud of the extraordinary progress” the coalition had made.
He said: “We all know that we faced challenges over the last two years, but the fact is we have overcome them together. We stand behind Ukraine today stronger than ever.”
While he said Ukraine had gained “real momentum” against Russia, he noted a “grim milestone”, saying there were “more Ukrainian civilian casualties last month than at any time since Russia’s ground offensive in April 2022”.
Sir Keir went on to call for allies to provide more air defences to Ukraine, increase the pressure on Moscow to negotiate and continue supporting Kyiv’s efforts for a lasting peace.
And, noting Monday was his final coalition of the willing summit before handing over power to Andy Burnham, Sir Keir said: “I know that under my successor, the UK’s commitment will remain as strong as ever.
“We will not waiver. Ukraine is the defining cause of our times, but history will recall that we rose to this moment and I have no doubt that ultimately we will help secure the peace Volodymyr (Zelensky) and his people so justly deserve.”