LONDON, Jan 22 (KUNA) -- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen and held phone talks with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to discuss the security in the Arctic region, including around Greenland.
He hosted Frederiksen at Chequers - his country residence in Buckinghamshire country, southeast England, on Thursday afternoon, according to a 10 Downing St. statement. The leaders agreed that security in the Arctic was a matter for the entire NATO alliance, and Europe and NATO would continue to drive forward progress.
They also discussed how the UK and Denmark could deepen broader security cooperation, both bilaterally and across Europe, including through increasing interoperability between militaries.
On Ukraine, the Prime Minister condemned Russia's vicious attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, and the leaders discussed next steps for the Coalition of the Willing.
The leaders also discussed the situation in the Middle East, and the Prime Minister said it was vital phase two of the Gaza peace plan was reached. The Prime Minister also raised migration, and the leaders spoke about the need to increase cooperation on innovative solutions to stem the flow of illegal migrants across the continent. A separate statement said that Starmer spoke to Mark Rutte to discuss the Secretary General's meetings at Davos (the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum), and the progress made by allies on Arctic security in recent days.
It was vital that NATO Allies continued to work together to step up security cooperation in the region, they agreed. The UK stood ready to play its full part, the statement quoted the Prime Minister as telling the NATO chief. (end) mrn.gb