Keir Starmer insisted Donald Trump is ‘absolutely committed’ to Nato today and denied that Ukraine was being cut adrift.
The PM played down alarm about whether US stands by Article 5 of the military alliance after Mr Trump said the meaning ‘depends on your definition’.
Rounding off a tense gathering of leaders in the The Hague, Sir Keir said he had detected ‘real resolve’ to stand up to Russia – even though the joint statement did not explicitly condemned the invasion of Ukraine.
He also argued that a new target for defence spending to hit 3.5 per cent of GDP by 2035 – with another 1.5 per cent on related ‘resilience’ budgets – would make Nato ‘stronger, fairer and more lethal than ever’.
The goal means the UK will need to find an extra £30billion a year for defence -albeit not for another decade.
However, some nations have signalled they do not view the level as a hard commitment, while there are questions about where the UK can find the extra £30billion.
Having demanded everyone else sign up to the figure, Mr Trump has signalled that he does not believe the US needs to meet it.
The summit has dominated by anxiety over America distancing itself from the structure that has underpinned world peace since the Second World War.
It was kept shorter than in previous years, amid concerns that Mr Trump either might not turn up or could leave early – as he did at the G7 in Canada last week.
Extraordinarily, Nato general secretary Mark Rutte has publicly referred to the US president as ‘Daddy’ and heaped praise on his tough approach to Iran and demands for cash from other states.
Sir Keir said that under the Nato new definitions ‘we estimate that we will reach at least 4.1 per cent of GDP in 2027 keeping the British people safe and strengthening our leadership in Nato even further’.
He said the Nato summit had sent a ‘decisive message to aggressors’.
The communique refers to Nato’s unity ‘in the face of profound security threats and challenges, in particular the long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security’.
It reaffirms support for Ukraine, with president Volodymyr Zelensky having attended the meeting, but does not explicitly condemn the Russian invasion.
Pressed whether Mr Trump did not want to criticise Vladimir Putin directly, Sir Keir said: ‘On the question of Ukraine, the position in Nato has not changed nor has my position changed.
‘In fact, over the last couple of days I would say in my discussions with leaders there’s been a real resolve that now is the time to push again to get Putin to the table for the unconditional ceasefire.’
Sir Keir has been scrambling to build bridges with Mr Trump after failing to line up squarely behind his decision to bomb Iran nuclear sites.
He insisted after talks with Mr Trump at the G7 last week that he did not believe Mr Trump would strike Tehran.
Asked en route to the Netherlands whether he would abide by Article 5, Mr Trump said it ‘depends on your definition’ and there were ‘numerous definitions’.
‘I’m committed to being their friends. I’m going to give you an exact definition when I get there,’ he said.
But Sir Keir said this morning: ‘Nato is as relevant and as important today as it’s ever been.
‘We live in a very volatile world, and today is about the unity of Nato, showing that strength.
‘We’re bigger than we were before, we’re stronger than we were before.’
On the issue of Article 5, Sir Keir added: ‘I think it’s very important that we stand here as allies, and we do stand here as allies, coming together, absolutely committed to the importance of Nato, particularly at this point in a very volatile world.’
The White House has reacted furiously after leaked US intelligence reports suggested the attack on Iran’s nuclear programme over the weekend have only set it back by a few months.
Mr Trump previously suggested that sites had been completely obliterated.
The president’s 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.
Mr Trump also condemned the leak in a post on Truth Social, calling the US raid ‘one of the most successful military strikes in history’.
‘THE NUCLEAR SITES IN IRAN ARE COMPLETELY DESTROYED! BOTH THE TIIMES AND CNN ARE GETTING SLAMMED BY THE PUBLIC!’ he wrote.
Sir Keir said yesterday 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.
In a conversation with the French and German leaders last night, 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.
