Britain was urged to “sort itself out” by Finland’s president on Tuesday as allies gathered for a challenging Nato summit in Turkey, just hours before Donald Trump arrived with fresh strikes on Iran and renewed claims on Greenland.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight on the sidelines of the meeting in Ankara, Alexander Stubb warned of the “precarious” state of global politics and told the UK: “Just sort yourself out, please. We need you.” He added: “In other words, stay British. Stay calm. Do what needs to be done.” The Finnish president spoke warmly of his “good friend” Sir Keir Starmer, who became prime minister after the UK changed leader again, and said he preferred “cool, calm and collected” leaders, while warning of the urgency of challenges to liberal democracies without elaborating.
“Finland’s president urged UK to ‘sort yourself out’ at Nato summit as Trump arrived with fresh strikes on Iran and Greenland claims.”
The comments came as Trump arrived at the summit, authorising fresh strikes on Iran, demanding the US cut trade ties with Spain, and making renewed claims on Greenland – remarks that irked Nato ally Denmark. Trump also took aim at allies he accused of shirking their responsibilities on defence spending and support for the “doomed US venture in Iran”, even after the British government announced that Britain, France, Germany and other nations would spend more than $50bn over the next 10 years on boosting Nato’s defence capabilities in Europe.
Separately, Starmer is set to convene allies in Ankara on Wednesday, where he will unveil a British-led initiative to develop long-range precision weapons without involvement from Washington – as the Trump administration continues to press Europe to do more of its own bidding and European allies look for greater independence from the US. The weapons will have the ability to accurately strike targets at least 300km (186 miles) away and in some cases beyond 2,000km, the British government said in a statement.
Questions also remained around the US commitment to stationing troops in Europe, after Washington suspended, and then resumed, its rotation in Poland. Polish president Karol Nawrocki said on Wednesday he had spoken to Trump and discussed the US military presence in Poland. He warned that it is “always possible” that Russia will “use force” against Nato’s eastern flank countries.