The UK government is discussing the possibility of joining a global investment bank that aims to raise more money for defense spending.
Chancellor John Healey is considering a proposal to join the Defense, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB) shortly after his predecessor Rachel Reeves rejected the idea.
Canada is leading efforts to create a bank that supporters say would allow governments to borrow at lower prices to boost military spending.
Treasury officials stressed that no decision had been made. A government spokesman said it was “fully committed to working with our international partners to expand defense industrial capabilities.”
Before he canceled his commitments due to his father’s death, Prime Minister Andy Burnham was due to meet Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Britain on Wednesday.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is also traveling to the UK for his first meeting with the prime minister.
He is making a speech in Oxfordshire, where he is expected to say the UK “takes security seriously” and praise the country’s efforts to support Ukraine.
He will also say that NATO “will not be intimidated by Russia’s campaign of hostile actions.”
“Russia wants to stop us from helping Ukraine, but their actions will only force us to do more for Ukraine.”
It comes after NATO forces shot down a drone over Lithuania, the latest security threat on the alliance’s eastern flank where tensions remain high amid Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
And on Tuesday, Denmark also accused a Russian warship of firing two emergency flares at one of its helicopters as it tracked the ship in the Baltic Sea.