Britain's Prime Minster Keir Starmer speaks to guests as he holds a reception on the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in London, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, Pool)

LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Keir Starmer committed to raise U.K. defense spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product by 2027, saying Tuesday that Europe is in a new era of insecurity.

The U.K. currently spends 2.3% of gross domestic product on defense, and the government had previously set a 2.5% target, without setting a date.

Starmer told lawmakers that the increase amounts to an additional 13.4 billion pounds ($17 billion) a year. He said the goal is for defense spending to rise to 3% of GDP by 2035.

To pay for it, overseas development aid will be slashed from 0.5% to 0.3% of national income, he said.

Starmer said that his announcement amounted to the “biggest sustained increase in defense spending since the end of the Cold War,” and necessary because “tyrants like (Russian President Vladimir) Putin only respond to strength.”

The announcement came as European countries scramble to bolster their collective defense as U.S. President Donald Trump transforms American foreign policy, seemingly sidelining Europe as he looks to quickly end the war in Ukraine.

Trump has long questioned the value of NATO and complained that the U.S. provides security to European countries that don’t pull their weight.

Starmer is due to meet with Trump at the White House on Thursday.

The prime minister has offered to send British troops to Ukraine as part of a force to safeguard a ceasefire, but says an American “backstop” will be needed to ensure a lasting peace. Trump hasn’t committed to providing security guarantees for Ukraine.

“We must stand by Ukraine, because if we do not achieve a lasting peace, then the economic instability and threats to our security, they will only grow,” Starmer said.

“And so as the nature of that conflict changes, as it has in recent weeks, it brings our response into sharper focus, a new era that we must meet as we have so often in the past, together, and with strength.”