World leaders gather to discuss defence amid Israel-Iran tensions
Sir Keir Starmer is among those in The Hague for a gathering of the alliance, having called on the Middle Eastern nations to maintain the pause in hostilities.
In a conversation with the French and German leaders at the summit on Tuesday, Sir Keir 'reflected on the volatile situation in the Middle East,' according to a Downing Street spokeswoman.
The leaders agreed that 'now was the time for diplomacy and for Iran to come to the negotiating table', the spokeswoman added.
It comes as intelligence reports in the US suggested that the American attack on Iran's nuclear programme over the weekend have only set it back by a few months, rather than destroyed it as Donald Trump previously suggested.
The White House pushed back on the reports on Tuesday evening, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying it was 'flat out wrong'.
'The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump, and discredit the brave fighter pilots who conducted a perfectly executed mission to obliterate Iran's nuclear programme,' she said in a statement.
Earlier on Tuesday Sir Keir had said that the US had helped in 'alleviating' the threat of nuclear capability for Iran with their strikes on Saturday.
Asked on his visit to The Hague whether he personally felt safe with Mr Trump in the White House and why others should, the Prime Minister told Channel 5 News: 'Look, I think what we've seen over the last few days is the Americans alleviating a threat to nuclear weaponry by the Iranians and bringing about a ceasefire in the early hours of today.
'I think now what needs to happen is that ceasefire needs to be maintained, and that will be the focus of our attention, our engagement, our discussions, because that ceasefire provides the space for the negotiations that need to take place.'
After the ceasefire was initially struck early on Tuesday, Israel claimed Iran had violated the deal by carrying out strikes after it came into force.
Mr Trump called for Israel to withdraw its warplanes, and claimed both it and Iran 'don't know what the f*** they're doing' as he departed for the summit in the Netherlands.
The UK has continued to evacuate Britons out of Israel, and a second flight left Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
The Foreign Office confirmed the plane had left Israel and said further flights would be considered depending on demand.
Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats have said that MPs should be given a vote in the event of any future deployment of troops.
The party's foreign affairs spokesman Calum Miller said: 'With the Middle East in the throes of an all-out regional war, we are reckoning once again with the prospect of the UK becoming embroiled in foreign conflict.
'No one knows the fragility of peace in that region, or the price paid for our safety, better than our British troops. It's critical that, if they are asked to put their lives on the line for the UK in active conflict zones, this decision is subject to the strongest democratic scrutiny our country can offer.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
33 minutes ago
- The Independent
Ukraine-Russia war latest: Missile attack kills 17 in Dnipro before Zelensky-Trump meeting at Nato summit
A Russian ballistic missile attack on Ukraine 's southeastern city Dnipro hit multiple civilian sites killing 17 people and injuring more than 200 others, officials said. The injured include at least 18 children, with regional mayor Borys Filatov saying the attack caused an "unprecedented amount of destruction" in the city. A barrage of Russian missiles and drones damaged 19 schools, 10 kindergartens, a vocational school, a music school and a social welfare office, as well as eight medical facilities, the mayor said. It came as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky reached The Hague for a Nato summit aiming to secure additional military support for Ukraine. Mr Zelensky also said he is planning to meet with US president Donald Trump on the sidelines of the two-day talks. Mr Zelensky has urged Kyiv 's 32 allies at the Nato summit to bolster Ukraine's defence industry, after signing a deal with Keir Starmer on Monday which they said would strengthen both countries. Talking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Mr Trump has said he will 'probably' meet with the war-time president tomorrow at the Nato summit. Russia is using motorbikes to attack Ukrainian brigades along frontline Russian forces are exploiting a new form of attack using motorcycles in assaults on Ukrainian forces along the war's frontline, a think tank has said. 'Russian forces are expanding their use of motorcycles along the frontline in Ukraine – a tactic that the Russian military may leverage in future wars beyond Ukraine, possibly including operations against Nato states,' the Institute for the Study of War said, citing a Ukrainian servicemember who confirmed a rise in this assault method. 'The servicemember stated that Russian motorcycle forces are no longer attacking along roads but mainly attacking through open fields and trying to bypass Ukrainian engineering barriers along the frontline,' the ISW said. The think tank cited a Frontelligence Insight report that 'Russian forces are mainly using motorcycles as a form of transport for attacking infantry to support diversion, reconnaissance, infiltration, and flanking support missions.' It added that these motorcycles have been given to Russian forces by foreign allies like China. 'Frontelligence Insight reported that Russian forces are mainly using foreign-made motorcycles, primarily those manufactured in the People's Republic of China (PRC), and that volunteer organisations in Russia provide most of the motorcycles for frontline Russian units,' the ISW said. Arpan Rai25 June 2025 06:46 Rutte says Russia could attack Nato within three to seven years Russia could attack a Nato member state within three to seven years and is currently more prepared for a war than the alliance, the bloc's secretary general Mark Rutte said. 'When you look at the latest opinion polling done in Nato, you see that many, many people, and it is getting to really high numbers, are supporting the fact that, yes, there is a direct threat from Russia,' Mr Rutte said at the Nato public forum at The Hague yesterday. 'That yes, if we do not invest now, we are really at risk that the Russians might try something against Nato territory in three, five or seven years. And therefore there is large scale support. I see it in my own country,' he said. The Nato official warned that the alliance is 'living in much more dangerous times, and there are enemies, adversaries who might want to attack us'. Arpan Rai25 June 2025 06:32 Russian blasts blow out Ukrainian train's windows in Dnipro One of the blasts from the Russian attack yesterday blew out the windows of a passenger train in regional capital Dnipro, which was carrying about 500 people. Russia used ballistic missiles and drones to target multiple civilian sites in the central Ukrainian city. The total death toll from yesterday's attack rose to 26 and hundreds were injured. The barrage damaged 19 schools, 10 kindergartens, a vocational school, a music school and a social welfare office, as well as eight medical facilities, according to Dnipro mayor Borys Filatov. Schools are closed for the summer break. Mr Filatov declared Wednesday to be an official day of mourning. Arpan Rai25 June 2025 06:23 Trump's nominee for top US general in Europe 'thinks Ukraine can win' President Donald Trump's nominee to become the top US general in Europe said he believed Ukraine could prevail against Russia's more than three-year-old invasion. "I think Ukraine can win," Air Force Lieutenant General Alexus Grynkewich said in testimony at his Senate confirmation hearing. "I think any time your own homeland is threatened, you fight with a tenacity that's difficult for us to conceive of. "Grynkewich has been nominated by the Trump administration to serve as the next Supreme Allied Commander Europe within Nato, as well as commander of US European Command. He currently serves as Director of Operations (J-3) for the Joint Staff at the Pentagon in Washington, DC. Arpan Rai25 June 2025 05:56 Ukrainian lawmaker who nominated Trump for Nobel Peace Prize withdraws support A Ukrainian lawmaker who pushed for President Donald Trump to receive the Nobel Peace Prize has withdrawn his nomination after Russia - Ukraine ceasefire talks stalled. It's been more than three years since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Trump had promised to end the war within 24 hours of taking office, but it's been five months, and the two eastern European countries have not agreed to a peace deal. Oleksandr Merezhko, the head of Ukraine's parliamentary foreign committee, nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize last November, but told Newsweek Tuesday that he withdrew his nomination. Merezhko had "lost any sort of faith and belief" in Trump and his ability to get a ceasefire deal between Russia and Ukraine. Ukrainian lawmaker withdraws nomination for Trump to receive Nobel Peace Prize Oleksandr Merezhko, the head of Ukraine's parliamentary foreign committee, said he had "lost any sort of faith and belief" in Trump and his ability to get a ceasefire deal between Russia and Ukraine Arpan Rai25 June 2025 05:14 Nato chief praises Trump for making Europe 'pay in a BIG way' Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte praised US president Donald Trump for making Europe "pay in a BIG way". Mr Trump while flying aboard Air Force One en route to The Hague, published a screenshot of a private message from Mr Rutte saying: "Donald, you have driven us to a really, really important moment for America and Europe and the world. You will achieve something NO American president in decades could get done." "Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win," Mr Rutte wrote. Officials at Nato confirmed that he sent the message. The allies are likely to endorse a goal of spending 5 per cent of their gross domestic product on their security, to be able to fulfil the alliance's plans for defending against outside attack. Arpan Rai25 June 2025 05:11 Zelensky warns Russia could attack Nato country within next five years Volodymyr Zelensky has warned Russia could attack a Nato country within the next five years. The Ukrainian leader said Vladimir Putin could carry out an attack on another Nato country to test the alliance. Mr Zelensky issued his warning during an interview with Sky News on Monday (23 June). The Ukrainian president also said plans for Nato members to increase defence spending to five per cent of GDP by 2035 are 'very slow', stating Putin could have 'significantly greater capabilities' by 2030. Watch the video here: Zelensky warns Russia could attack Nato country within next five years Volodymyr Zelensky has warned Russia could attack a Nato country within the next five years. The Ukrainian leader said Vladimir Putin could carry out an attack on another Nato country to test the alliance. Mr Zelensky issued his warning during an interview with Sky News on Monday (23 June). The Ukrainian president also said plans for Nato members to increase defence spending to five per cent of GDP by 2035 are 'very slow', stating Putin could have 'significantly greater capabilities' by 2030. Arpan Rai25 June 2025 04:49 Russian missile attack kills 17 in Dnipro and injures more than 200 A Russian missile attack in southeastern Ukraine yesterday killed at least 17 people, injured hundreds and caused sweeping damage, officials said, ahead of president Volodymyr Zelensky's participation at Nato summit with Kyiv's allies. A Russian ballistic missile attack on Dnipro hit multiple civilian sites in the central Ukrainian city around midday, killing 17 people and injuring more than 200 others, officials said. 'The number of casualties is constantly being updated,' Dnipro's regional administration head Serhii Lysak wrote on Telegram. Among the wounded were at least 18 children, he added. Two people were also killed in the town of Samar, around 10 km (six miles) from Dnipro, Mr Lysak said, adding that an infrastructure facility was damaged. The rare daytime strike also damaged dozens of apartment buildings and educational facilities among other sites, according to Mayor Borys Filatov, who said the attack caused an "unprecedented amount of destruction" in the city.
The Guardian
35 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Donald Trump is not the first politician to swear in public. Here are six more infamous expletives
According to Donald Trump, Iran and Israel 'don't know what the fuck they're doing'. Waking up to find the ceasefire he had brokered had been violated, the US president told reporters outside the White House: 'Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and they dropped a load of bombs, the likes of which I've never seen before, the biggest load that we've seen.' 'We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the fuck they're doing.' Asked about Trump's comments on Wednesday, the Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese said, 'I think that he stated his views pretty abruptly and I think they were very clear.' Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The furious expletive reflected 'the gravity, the enormity of the situation in the Middle East', the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said earlier in the day. Trump is not the first leader to drop the f-word in a high-profile situation. Here are similarly startling instances. Amid all-night climate talks with world leaders in Copenhagen in 2009, former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd used the phrase 'rat-fucking' to describe China's stone-walling on a deal. Rudd was exhausted and exasperated when he began his rant against the Chinese government, political commentator David Marr wrote in his Quarterly Essay on Rudd. 'His anger was real, but his language seemed forced, deliberately foul,' Marr wrote. 'In this mood, he'd been talking about countries 'rat-fucking' each other for days. Was a deal still possible, asked one of the Australians. 'Depends whether those rat-fucking Chinese want to fuck us'.' (Rudd said this in a briefing off the record, but it was reported anyway. It was not his only brush with having his swearing leaked.) As King Charles finished addressing Australian parliament during his visit in 2024, he was met by a protest from independent senator Lidia Thorpe, who approached the stage yelling, 'This is not your country'. 'You committed genocide against our people. Give us our land back. Give us what you stole from us – our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people,' Thorpe, a Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung woman said. 'You destroyed our land. Give us a treaty.' As security officers escorted Thorpe out, she shouted: 'This is not your land. You are not my king. You are not our king.' And as she was forced back into the foyer, she could be heard shouting: 'Fuck the colony!' Former Mexican president Vicente Fox gave an uncompromising response to Trump's plans as Republican presidential frontrunner to make Mexico pay for a wall sealing off the country along the US border. 'I'm not going to pay for that fucking wall. He should pay for it. He's got the money,' Fox told Jorge Ramos on Fusion in 2016. Fox was asked if he was 'afraid that he's going to be the next president of the United States?', and what that would mean for Mexico. His response: 'No, no, no, – democracy can not take that.' After introducing Barack Obama at the signing ceremony for a healthcare reform legislation at the White House in 2010, then-vice-president Joe Biden turned, hugged the then-US president, and excitedly whispered: 'This is a big fucking deal!' But he was loud enough to be picked up by microphones, and Fox News repeatedly ran the clip, adding to the lore of Biden's loose lips. Paul Gogarty, an Irish Greens member of parliament, had to apologise for using 'unparliamentary language' against a Labour counterpart in a heated exchange over plans to cut social welfare payments. 'I respected your sincerity, I ask that you respect mine,' Gogarty said, before shouting: 'With all due respect and in the most unparliamentary of language, fuck you Deputy Stagg. Fuck you!' Gogarty then immediately apologised: 'I now withdraw and apologise for it, but in outrage, that someone dares to question my sincerity on this issue.' In another Trump-related moment, representative Rashida Tlaib literally swore to impeach the US president just hours after she was sworn in as one of the first two Muslim women in Congress. 'We're gonna impeach the motherfucker,' she said at a 2019 event hosted by the liberal group MoveOn. It drew applause from the room, but also sparked political pushback from Tlaib's Democratic colleagues in the House.
Metro
an hour ago
- Metro
Trump has a meltdown over 'failed' strikes on Iran that did not destroy nuclear
Donald Trump took to TruthSocial – in his usual all-caps style – declaring that the Fordow nuclear sites in Iran had been 'OBLITERATED' in what he called 'ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MILITARY STRIKES IN HISTORY.' The only problem? Early US intelligence now suggests the attacks carried out with bunker buster bombs, dropped from B-2 jets, did not destroy the nuclear facilities. Cue the meltdown. After the assessment, the US president launched into a tirade online and accused both CNN and the New York Times, which reported on the failure, of teaming up 'in an attempt to demean' the strikes. More than a dozen bombs were unleashed on two of the nuclear facilities, the Fordow Fuel Enrichment plant and the Natanz Enrichment Complex, in Iran. It is now becoming clear that they did not fully eliminate the centrifuges of the sites and highly enriched uranium, CNN said, citing people familiar with the early report made by the Pentagon's intelligence arm. More Trending In addition, the assault only pushed back Iran's nuclear programme by one to two months the earliest, it was claimed. This means that the Islamic Republic could restart its nuclear program in a matter of months, according to the three sources. The classified assessment is at odds with the statements of both Trump and high-ranking US officials – including defence secretary Pete Hegseth. Both have said the weekend strikes essentially eliminated Iran's nuclear program. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: 'Living Nostradamus' issues chilling warning on Trump's Israel-Iran ceasefire MORE: Experts reveal real risk of WW3 — and what's at stake for anywhere that gets dragged in MORE: UK must prepare for 'wartime scenario' on home soil, security review warns
