Sir Keir Starmer has warned that the West is facing a ‘war on two fronts’, as he meets up with fellow leaders at the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) summit.
The Prime Minister is meeting allies at a European defence summit in Finland, where the US-Israel conflict with Iran and the Russian invasion of Ukraine are two major wars that are up for discussion.
As he arrived in Helsinki, Starmer gave his approval for UK forces to seize Russian shadow fleet ships, which have been seen lurking in British waters.
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British forces will now be able to board the tankers and stop their journeys, as part of a move to stop Russia’s illicit oil exports.
The move is aimed at making Russian ships avoid British waters, and therefore taking longer and more costly routes.
“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,” Starmer told journalists.
“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 January, UK forces assisted the US with the seizure of the Marinera oil tanker.
The Russian-flagged ship was captured by American forces and then accompanied by RAF aircraft and British ship RFA Tideforce in the Atlantic.