David Lammy has declared that the hard-won “post Cold War peace is well and truly over” as he used his first major speech of 2025 to take aim at Vladimir Putin and Russian agression.
The foreign secretary threw his weight behind demands by Donald Trump for Nato allies to significantly increase their spending on defencewhile laughing off the president-elect’s expansionist plans for Greenland and Canada.
The president-election had demanded earlier this week that Nato allies commit 5 per cent of GDP to defence spending. While Lammy did not back that figure he warned “some allies are lagging behind” adding “we must put our money where our mouth is.”
Speaking in the Locarno room in the Foreign Office on Thursday to an audience of diplomats and foreign policy experts, the foreign secretary said that Russian aggression had ripped up the established world order from the 1990s.
He said: “We have to be taken seriously by opponents and allies alike.
“We must put our money where our mouth is. That starts by facing facts. Donald Trump and J.D. Vance are simply right when they say that Europe needs to do more to defend its own continent.
“It is myopia to pretend otherwise, with Russia on the march.”
Underlining his policy thrust of “progressive realism” he also took aim at the previous Tory governments for undermining Britain’s place in the world. He tipped his hat to repairing some of the damaged relationships not just with the EU.
He also defended taking “a pragmatic approach” to relations with China cooperating on issues such as artificial intelligence and climate change.
Mr Lammy told an invited audience: “We and our allies must relearn the Cold War manual, long-term thinking, not short-termism.
“Consistent deterrence, not constant distraction. Adapting as emerging technology reshapes the strategic environment. Securing strategic stability in an unstable world.”
And he warned: “Our opponents are coordinating ever more closely.
“With Iranian drones fired at Ukrainian cities and North Korean troops now fighting against Ukraine.”
With Donald Trump threatening to unpick the international resolve on the war in Ukraine, Mr Lammy remained defiant over standing up to Putin.
