Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged Labour leader Keir Starmer to support making Ukraine "totally indigestible" to Russia through Nato-grade weaponry and military support.
Speaking to GB News, Johnson emphasised the importance of fortifying Ukraine if immediate Nato membership isn't possible.
Boris Johnson told GB News: "Pete Hegseth said you can't be a sovereign country if you are constrained, if you're prevented at some stage in the future from deciding whether you're going to join Nato, which club you're going to belong to.
"If you're a sovereign country, which is what Pete Hegseth says he wants Ukraine to be, then you've got to have that freedom.
Boris Johnson told Starmer to make Ukraine "indigestible"
GB News
"If you don't have the freedom to join Nato, then you're not a sovereign country or a slave state, right?
"I just think people need to focus more carefully on on what the Trump administration is actually safe.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
"What we need to do is Europeans. What the Brits need to do. And frankly, you mentioned Keir Starmer.
"You mentioned the what we should be doing now is working with our European friends on that crucial, crucial part of the Trump proposals, which is to fortify Ukraine.
"If we can't get them immediately into Nato, what we need to do now is strengthen them with Nato grade weaponry, intelligence, logistics, drones, tanks, guns, shells, everything that they could conceivably need so that they're basically in future totally indigestible to Putin, a steel killed porcupine that he can never take another bite out of.
"The UK could lead that. We are the second biggest player in Nato, we're a serious military power. That is what we should be doing."
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has called for Nato allies to dramatically increase their defence spending to 5 per cent, warning that "values alone" cannot protect Europe.
Speaking at Nato headquarters in Brussels, Hegseth stressed that current spending levels were insufficient, declaring that "two percent is a start, but it's not enough, nor is 3 per cent, nor is 4 per cent".
The Defence Secretary delivered a stark message about the limitations of shared principles in military defence.
"We can talk all we want about values. Values are important, but you can't shoot values. You can't shoot flags and you can't shoot strong speeches", Hegseth told Nato ministers.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has called for NATO allies to dramatically increase their defence spending
REUTERSHegseth defended Trump's push for peace talks with Russia, telling Nato officials he had briefed allies on US efforts to bring about "a diplomatic, peaceful end to the war as quickly as possible".
The Defence Secretary acknowledged that Ukraine's borders would not return to their pre-2014 positions.
"The borders won't be rolled back to what everybody would like them to be in 2014", Hegseth said, insisting this was not "a concession to Vladimir Putin" but "a recognition of the hard power realities on the ground".
He suggested that economic ties could provide better security guarantees than military promises.
