Keir Starmer says Ukraine will be central focus of upcoming visit to the White House

The Prime Minister has said he will be heading to the White House because the situation in Ukraine is becoming ever more pressing - as is the situation in the Middle East.

Sir Keir Starmer said he had had a number of discussions with US President Joe Biden and other Nato allies about the "tactical decisions we have to make in relation to Ukraine and the Middle East".

"We've coordinated a lot of our messaging, coordinated our action, as you'd expect," he told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme.

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Sir Keir said he wanted the opportunity to have a more strategic discussion about the next few months in relation to Ukraine and the Middle East, which would be the central focus of his US visit.

He explained: "I want to make sure we give Ukraine the support that it needs, for as long as it needs."

He said it was wrong to claim the US was angry at Britain for its decision to suspend some arms sales to Israel.

The UK announced it would limit the sales of some arms last week, citing humanitarian concerns among its legal reasoning.

Sir Keir said: "We have been talking to the US beforehand and afterwards.

"They are very clear that they have got a different legal system and they understand the decision that we have taken."