Starmer urges ‘unity’ at Nato summit again overshadowed by Trump

Christopher McKeon, Press Association Political Correspondent in Ankara

Sir Keir Starmer urged leaders to show “unity and strength” at the start of a Nato summit already overshadowed once again by Donald Trump.

Speaking to reporters on arrival at the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, where the summit is being held, the Prime Minister said the gathering would prove to be “very important” against the background of the Ukraine war and the US conflict with Iran.

He said: “It’s very important that, as leaders, we show the unity and the strength of Nato at a time like this, and that’s what we’ll do at this summit here this morning.”

But in a re-run of last year’s summit in The Hague, the meeting in Ankara has been focused on the US president and his ongoing criticism of the alliance.

Ahead of the summit, Mr Trump reopened questions about his commitment to the alliance, insisting again that Greenland – which belongs to Nato ally Denmark – should be part of the US.

He said the dispute over Greenland earlier this year had “hurt my relationship with Nato”, and suggested the US could pull all its troops out of Europe.

On Wednesday, Nato general-secretary Mark Rutte insisted that the US remained committed to Nato “no doubt”, but had an “expectation” that allies would “equalise” their defence spending with America.

But at a meeting with Mr Rutte, the US president renewed his attacks on Nato, saying he would “relate my problems” at Wednesday’s session of the North Atlantic Council.

He complained again about Greenland and defence spending, saying he was “very upset with Nato”, and criticised the UK for refusing permission for the US to use British bases to launch strikes against Iran at the beginning of the war.

Defence spending is likely to be a key issue at the summit, with Mr Rutte calling on allies to present “credible” plans for reaching the target of spending 5% of GDP on defence by 2035 agreed at The Hague last year.

At home, Sir Keir has been accused of arriving at the summit “empty-handed” after last week’s Defence Investment Plan did not set out a clear path to reaching the Nato target.

Ministers insist that the next spending review will set out that path, but that will be a decision for Andy Burnham who is set to enter No10 in less than two weeks.

At Wednesday’s summit, Sir Keir unveiled a partnership of around 12 European nations who had agreed to spend a total of 50 billion dollars (£37 billion) developing long-range missiles.

So-called “deep precision strike” missiles, including the British-made Storm Shadow, have proved crucial in the Ukraine war, allowing Ukrainian forces to hit targets far beyond the front line.

The European commitment brings together several projects, including a joint UK-German effort to develop hypersonic long-range missiles and work with Italy and France on the Stratus missile.

The announcement does not involve all the nations involved working on a single weapon, but officials said the move would prevent duplication among allies, with nations working on different types of missiles.

Sir Keir is also expected to hold what is likely to be his final meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the margins on the summit, before signing a defence cooperation deal with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Prime Minister is not expected to hold a formal meeting with Mr Trump, but will be sat next to him at Wednesday’s meeting of the North Atlantic Council.