Britain will accelerate an increase to its defense spending, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Tuesday, on the eve of a crucial visit to meet US President Donald Trump in Washington.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has set out plans to increase defence spending to 2.5% of national income by 2027, as peace talks to end the war in Ukraine gather pace. The PM said he would cut the UK's international aid budget to fund the rise in defence spending,

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to cut the country's aid budget to immediately hike defence spending to 2.5% of GDP, a reporter for the Sun newspaper said on X on Tuesday. Starmer is due to make a statement in parliament about defence and security at 1230 GMT on Tuesday,

The UK's decision to suspend some aid to Rwanda is "punitive", authorities in the East African country have said. In a statement, the UK said it was against Rwanda's support for the M23, a rebel group that has captured swathes of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in a deadly uprising.

Britain on Tuesday said it would pause some bilateral aid to Rwanda over its role in the conflict in neighbouring Congo. A statement from the British government said that until there was significant progress in ending hostilities and the withdrawal of all Rwanda Defence Forces from Congolese territory,