Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed the UK must rejoin the EU if the US leaves NATO, as US President Donald Trump has threatened to pull away if the pact does not support his Middle East war.
Trump, a fierce critic of the defence bloc, has been left unimpressed by fellow members and their refusal to get involved in his war with Iran.
Zelensky said on Friday: 'If the United States truly thinks about withdrawing from NATO, then European security will be based solely on the European Union.
'But not in its current form. I think that the EU is in a situation where it needs more countries. The UK, Ukraine, Türkiye, and Norway
'These are four strong countries, which are part of Europe. Together, the UK, Ukraine, and Türkiye have armies that are stronger than Russia’s army. Without Ukraine and Türkiye, Europe can’t match Russia.
'With the four countries on board you can wrest control of the seas, have secure skies and the largest land forces,' he added in a post on X.
'Security comes first, economy second. Not vice versa.'
Zelensky's comments come as UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer today warned Donald Trump against punishing Britain and other NATO allies for refusing to get involved in the Iran war, saying the alliance was important to America.
The Trump administration has said it will 'audit' countries and hinted it could withdraw its military forces from those seen as being particularly unhelpful to the war effort, while rewarding those seen as helpful.
After speaking to Trump about Iran last night the PM made a thinly veiled jibe about leaders who 'inflame' tensions and drive up bills in a Guardian article.
That followed an interview he carried out on a visit to the Gulf in which he admitted he was 'fed up' with bills going up in the UK 'because of the actions of Putin or Trump'.
This morning he said that being in NATO was 'in America's interests' as 'a defensive alliance, which for decades has kept us much safer than we would otherwise have been'.
Asked whether he had raised the president's threats to quit NATO during a call last night, Sir Keir told broadcasters: 'Do I think this will be a stronger European element to NATO? Yes, and I think we should step into that space.
The US has 13 bases and some 10,000 air force and other personnel in Britain, and their withdrawal would have a major security and economic impact.
A USAF analysis in 2012 suggested that they contributed $1.3billion to the economy, including almost £200million in local employment.
A wider withdrawal of 80,000 troops from Western Europe would leave the continent at greater risk from Russian aggression.
And last week, Starmer said he will pursue closer economic ties with the EU in light of the Iran war.
As part of the move, the Government's planned food deal with the EU will see new rules that would mean marmalade would have to be renamed citrus marmalade in a bid to move closer to the bloc's regulatory framework.
The move towards Europe comes as relations between the US and the UK have become increasingly strained due to Starmer's refusal to be drawn further into the Iran War.
Starmer said the conflict would affect the UK but said the government was taking steps to ease the cost of living.
'I do think that when it comes to defense and security, energy, emissions and the economy, we need a stronger relationship with Europe,' he said last Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the ceasefire between the US, Israel and Iran appeared on the verge of collapse last night after Donald Trump accused Tehran of breaching their agreement - as missiles continued to rain down across the Middle East.
Just over two days since the US President announced a ceasefire in the six-week-old conflict it already seemed to be unravelling out of his control.
On Thursday there was still no sign Iran was lifting its near-total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, having cited Israel's ongoing attacks on Lebanon as a key sticking point to maintain its grip over the vital shipping route.
Only a handful of vessels have passed through the Strait since the ceasefire was announced on Tuesday night, with the Islamic Republic reportedly demanding that shipping companies pay enormous tolls for safe passage.
'Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz,' he wrote on his social media site on Thursday, adding: 'That is not the agreement we have!'
'We will undoubtedly demand compensation for every single damage inflicted, the blood money of the martyrs, and the diyah of the war-wounded,' Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said in a message broadcast on Iranian state TV.
US Vice President JD Vance is now set to fly out to Pakistan for crucial peace talks, as Trump has told his second-in-command to find a way out of the war against Iran.
Vance, departing today, has been one of the most reluctant defenders of the war against Iran in Trump's inner circle.
He has long been skeptical of foreign military interventions and outspoken about the prospect of sending troops into open-ended war.
Vance is joined by Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who took part in three rounds of indirect talks with Iranian negotiators aimed at settling US concerns about Tehran's nuclear and ballistic weapons programmes and its support for armed proxy groups in the Middle East before Trump and Israel launched the February 28 war against Iran.
Speaking shortly before his departure to Pakistan from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Vance said of Iran: 'If they're gonna try to play us they're gonna find the negotiating team is not going to be that receptive.
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