Burnham urges bolder UK-EU ties ahead of summit

Kyiv, Ukraine. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham told European Council President Antonio Costa that London should take a bolder approach to strengthening ties with the European Union, his office said on Monday.

Burnham said a UK-EU summit planned for later this year would provide an opportunity to advance closer cooperation.

Talks with European Council president

Burnham met Costa late on Sunday while travelling to Kyiv to co-chair a meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing, in his first visit to Ukraine since becoming prime minister.

According to Downing Street, Burnham said Britain should build on existing defence and security cooperation with European allies and seek closer collaboration across the wider relationship.

The prime minister told Costa that Britain “had to be bolder in terms of getting closer to the bloc”, a Downing Street spokeswoman said.

“That included building on the close defence and security ties already forged between the UK and European allies to drive greater cooperation across all areas of the relationship.”

UK-EU summit

Britain has sought to improve trade ties with the EU since electing a Labour government in 2024, although progress has been slow and frustrations have emerged on both sides over what the former member should expect outside the bloc’s main institutions.

A British government spokeswoman said Burnham and Costa agreed that the UK-EU summit later this year would provide a platform to continue the work.

Defence financing discussions

Burnham also met Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden while travelling to Kyiv.

They discussed mechanisms for increasing defence spending, including the Canada-backed Defence, Security and Resilience Bank and the Multilateral Defence Mechanism launched by Britain, the Netherlands, Finland and Poland.

Downing Street said the two leaders discussed how the two schemes could complement each other.