Newsletters
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer held separate telephone calls with U.S. President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, covering efforts to ease tensions with Iran and the United Kingdom's plans to boost its defence budget ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara.
Downing Street said Starmer used his call with Trump to express British support for ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the standoff with Iran, stressing that any resolution must be lasting and sustainable.
The two leaders agreed on the importance of restoring freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman through which roughly a fifth of the world's petroleum and liquefied natural gas passes each year.
Both leaders noted the strait's disruption poses serious consequences for the global economy, and Starmer said Britain is prepared to offer full support to any peace agreement that proves workable.
In his call with Rutte, Starmer briefed the NATO chief on the United Kingdom's forthcoming Defence Investment Plan, which he said would be published ahead of the alliance's summit scheduled for Ankara in early July. The two agreed that allies must strengthen collective defences against shared threats.
The conversation also touched on Starmer's earlier pledge to raise British defence spending to 3 percent of gross domestic product, a commitment he reaffirmed would be delivered in the next parliamentary term.
Rutte expressed satisfaction with the commitment. Starmer added that national security remains the government's highest priority, and that serious steps would be taken to achieve it.
The calls come as NATO members face intensifying pressure to accelerate defence investment. At last year's Hague summit, all 32 member states, except Spain, committed to spending 5 percent of GDP on defence and security-related expenditure by 2035, with at least 3.5 percent earmarked for core military requirements.
The United Kingdom, which spent around 2.3 percent of GDP on NATO-qualifying defence in 2024-25, has faced scrutiny over the pace of its spending increases and has yet to publish its long-awaited Defence Investment Plan.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
1 min read
1 min read
