Britain was urged to “sort itself out” and “do what needs to be done” on the world stage by the Finnish president as allies gathered for a challenging summit of Nato leaders in Turkey.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight on the sidelines of the meeting on Tuesday, Alexander Stubb warned of the “precarious” state of global politics and urged the UK: “Just sort yourself out, please. We need you.”
“In other words, stay British. Stay calm. Do what needs to be done,” he said, adding: “I just think it’s very important that we have a strong and stable United Kingdom in Europe and in the world.”
President Stubb spoke warmly of his relationship with his “good friend” Sir Keir Starmer and said he preferred “cool, calm and collected” leaders, while warning of the urgency of challenges to liberal democracies, without elaborating.
The comments came just hours before Donald Trump arrived at the Turkey summit, authorising fresh strikes on Iran, demanding the US cut trade ties with Spain and making renewed claims on Greenland at a meeting expected to address defence investment and long-term support plans for Ukraine against Russia.
Trump took aim at allies he accused of shirking their responsibilities of 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.
The allies are planning to develop long-range precision weapons without involvement from Washington as the Trump administration continues to badger 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 300 km (186 miles) away and in some cases beyond 2,000 km, the British government said in a statement. Starmer is set to convene allies at the NATO summit in Ankara on Wednesday, where he will unveil the British-led initiative.
Meanwhile, in comments on Wednesday, president Trump also irked Nato ally Denmark by saying the United States should have control of its semi-autonomous territory of Greenland.
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.