Sir Keir Starmer will talk to European leaders on Friday morning as he continues his diplomatic push for peace in Ukraine.
The prime minister will be briefed on the outcome of a summit of EU leaders aimed at boosting support for Ukraine and bolstering the continent’s defence capabilities.
At the summit, the 27 EU leaders signed off a move to loosen budget restrictions so that willing EU countries can increase their military spending, which could free up around 650 billion euros (£545 billion).
They also committed to providing Ukraine with a total of £30.6 billion euros to fund Volodymyr Zelensky’s resistance against Russia’s invasion in 2025. The call on Friday will see Sir Keir speaking to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa, president of the European council.
Also joining the call will be Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau.
The prime minister and French president Emmanuel Macron are seeking countries willing to supply troops for a peacekeeping force to defend a potential deal – an idea that Russia has rejected.
Defence secretary John Healey said Donald Trump has “asked Europe to step up, and we are” as he started talks in Washington with his US counterpart Pete Hegseth on Thursday.
Mr Hegseth said it was “very encouraging” to see France and the UK say they are prepared to take a leading role.
He also said suggestions that the US had moved to a “pro-Russia” stance were “all garbage” and that Mr Trump is “working with both sides in a way that only President Trump can”.
Speaking to US news channel Newsmax after the meeting, Mr Healey said Britain and Europe were on a “push for peace” in Ukraine.
He said: “It’s a lasting, secure peace that we all want to see. We’ve got a big role to play in Europe and we are determined to do that.”
Negotiations between the US and Ukraine could be getting back on track as Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed talks will take place in Saudi Arabia next week, after a Trump administration envoy earlier said they were in the works.
But the fate of the minerals deal that Mr Trump and the Ukrainian president were due to sign before a dramatic Oval Office row last week remains unclear.
Since then, the US has paused military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine.
The US president is “very encouraged by the signs we’re seeing” from Ukraine, Mr Hegseth said.
On Friday, health minister Stephen Kinnock said Mr Trump’s comment that he would not defend Nato countries that do not spend enough on defence presents “no issues”.
Asked about Mr Trump’s comments overnight, health minister Stephen Kinnock told Times Radio that even before Mr Trump took office the US “has been challenging the other Nato members to step up and boost defence capability and be ready to defend our own backyard”.
He added: “I think it’s absolutely right that we are now seeing, particularly through the leadership of our Prime Minister, the European arm of Nato coming together and meeting that challenge.
“So I think there’s no issues really around the challenge that the United States has set for us as European nations, what’s vitally important now is that we step up and do that.”
Sir Keir has been seeking to support Ukraine to keep countering Russian aggression while showing the US that the UK is committed to stepping up its defence efforts.
Officials from around 20 largely European and Commonwealth countries took part in talks on Wednesday about his “coalition of the willing”..
Not all the countries interested in the plan would necessarily provide troops to a peacekeeping force but they could contribute in other ways.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said the move would amount to the “direct, official and unveiled involvement of Nato members in the war against Russia” and “it can’t be allowed”.
