UK to host EU foreign ministers on defence and Ukraine before summit

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's overseas curate volition big European peers connected Monday to sermon enactment for Ukraine and greater determination defence practice successful the run-up to Prime Minister Keir Starmer's acme with European Union leaders adjacent week.

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy was owed to clasp talks with representatives of France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Poland and the EU, Britain's overseas ministry said.

"We are facing a once-in-a-generation infinitesimal for the corporate information of our continent," Lammy said successful a statement. "The situation we look contiguous is not lone astir the aboriginal of Ukraine - it is existential for Europe arsenic a whole."

Lammy planned to denote further sanctions targeting actors supporting Russia's penetration of Ukraine, the connection said.

The leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Poland travelled to Kyiv connected Saturday to backmost Ukraine's telephone for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire connected Saturday, with the backing of U.S. President Donald Trump.

They besides threatened President Vladimir Putin with "massive" caller sanctions if helium did not judge wrong days. Putin connected Sunday projected nonstop talks with Ukraine aimed astatine ending the war.

Lammy would usage Monday's gathering to property Britain's calls for a strengthening of European security, the ministry said.

At a acme with EU leaders connected May 19, Starmer is hoping to clinch a caller defence statement with the bloc and amended post-Brexit commercialized ties pursuing Trump's upending of information and commercialized alliances.

(Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by Giles Elgood)