Trump praised for 'ambition and vision' by Nato Secretary General as Israel calls for 'direct negotiations' with Lebanon
The Nato Secretary General has praised Donald Trump's "ambition and vision" following a meeting with the US President.
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Mark Rutte made his comments during a speech in Washington, following a “frank and open discussion” with the US President, who has been highly critical of the organisation’s response to the Iran war.
Trump has previously accused allies of failing to support his conflict.
The secretary general also said the alliance is willing to play a role in getting the Strait of Hormuz open again.
The critical strait - through which about 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas usually passes through - remains closed.
Following the talks, the US president made clear his continued displeasure with a post on his Truth Social platform, in which he said: “NATO WASN’T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON’T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN.”
He has previously raised the possibility of the US quitting Nato, branding it a “paper tiger”.
Meanwhile, Israel says it wants "direct negotiations" with Lebanon over dismantling Hezbollah to start as soon as possible.
The country's health ministry says 303 people were killed and more than 1,000 were wounded in Israeli airstrikes yesterday.
The heavy bombardment struck large residential areas in the capital of Beirut, in what the Lebanese presidency described as a "new massacre" by Israel.
In response to what it called "ceasefire violations", the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon fired rockets at northern Israel overnight.
Iran and the US disagree over whether it violates a ceasefire.
"In light of Lebanon's repeated requests to open direct negotiations with Israel, I instructed the cabinet yesterday to start direct negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible," the Israeli Prime Minister said.
"The negotiations will focus on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peaceful relations between Israel and Lebanon."
Netanyahu's call for talks with Lebanon is probably the first sign the US wants Israel to scale back its attacks.
The Prime Minister, who is currently in Bahrain, also faced questions about the UK-US relationship, after Mr Trump mocked him over his refusal to be drawn into the conflict.
In a video from a private Easter White House lunch, Mr Trump impersonated the Prime Minister as he recounted saying he had to ask the UK to send “two old broken-down aircraft carriers” to the Middle East.
The US president has also posted to his Truth Social platform during the war, at one point ending a post “praise be to Allah” and in another warning that “a whole civilisation will die” if Tehran failed to meet his demands.
“Let me be really clear and blunt about this – they’re not words I would use or would ever use because I come at this with our British values and principles foremost and uppermost in my mind,” Sir Keir said.
“I would never use those words and language like that myself – very important that I’m clear that the United Kingdom, we have our principles, we have our values, we will be guided by them.”
He added: “I’ve been saying we are not going to be dragged into this war because I say there must be a lawful basis – that matters.
“If you’re going to commit our service personnel to risk their lives, they need to know they’re doing so on a lawful basis.
“It’s not a question of remote international law – these are real people who take risks with their lives on our behalf.
“They need to know that what they’re doing is lawful.
“I owe them that, and I will never give up on that.
“Secondly, there must be a viable thought-through plan, and absent those two things, then it is not in our national interest to get involved, and we won’t.”
The Prime Minister also said: “I’m saying I’ve been really clear about the use of the bases for collective self-defence only and we are monitoring.”
He continued: “From the get-go we’ve been monitoring this situation, so I’m pretty clear in my own mind about what we’ve agreed and what the use of the bases are, and that is a really important point of principle because we have to learn the lessons of Iraq.
“We need to be clear where we stand as a country and I’m the British Prime Minister, I make decisions on what’s in the British national interest – and that is my focus.”