The four military flashpoints between Burnham and Trump, by experts and insiders

When Andy Burnham comes face-to-face with Donald Trump on the world stage this week, he will not be taking a leaf out of his predecessor’s book. The Prime Minister, as revealed by The i Paper on Saturday, is set to abandon the “flattery” tactics used by Sir Keir Starmer to win over the US President. Nevertheless, Burnham will be keen to avoid antagonising Trump as he seeks to persuade him to strengthen support for Ukraine in the face of an emboldened Vladimir Putin. Global instability and defence will be top of the agenda when the Prime Minister and Trump have their first in-person meeting at the UN general assembly in New York on Tuesday. Shorts Leading military expert Sir Richard Barrons told The i Paper that Burnham should tell the president to redouble his efforts to end the Ukraine war, and remind him that the US is stronger insider Nato. Barrons, who co-authored the UK’s blueprint for overhauling military readiness, said Burnham “has been handed the burden of a wartime prime minister whether he likes it or not”. Here are the key defence flashpoints that are expected to be tackled at the meeting. Ukraine Trump’s talks with Burnham will take place on the same day the president meets Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss efforts to deescalate the war in Ukraine. Zelensky said on Sunday there is “diplomatic momentum” behind relaunching peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Yet Kyiv and Moscow continued to trade deadly strikes over the weekend, and there are fears that Putin will use his party’s victory in Russia’s parliamentary elections as a renewed mandate to continue with the conflict. Burnham’s meeting with Trump would be a good moment to press for fresh attempts to end the four-year war, defence experts said. Barrons said: “I would like Mr Burnham to say to President Trump that the first and vital step to the security of both countries now is to ensure a good outcome from the war in Ukraine.” He said Ukraine should emerge from the war in a way that denies Russia its goals and convinces Moscow that Nato is strong enough that attacking or testing the alliance would be too risky. The Prime Minister is expected to push Trump for more US support in Ukraine’s battle with Russia. This could include urging the president to allow Kyiv to use Patriot interceptor missiles – which could be a game-changer for Ukraine. Iran The US-led war with Iran is not over and the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed to shipping – fuelling fears in Whitehall that Britons will be faced with even higher energy and food prices this winter. Burnham has made reducing the cost of living a top priority, and will want to urge Trump to try to strike a deal with Tehran to end the war. But Trump has stepped up his rhetoric towards the regime in recent days: on Sunday he said he was considering “wiping Iran out” or “letting them rot economically”. The president has, however, suggested he could meet his Iranian counterpart in the margins of the UN summit this week. Barrons said Burnham could tell Trump “that once a deal is done over the Strait of Hormuz with Iran, the UK is ready to take part in confidence-building arrangements [practical measures to reduce tensions], so why not announce victory and depart from the current impasse that benefits nobody?” Nato Burnham is expected to congratulate Trump for securing a deal with Denmark over Greenland at the weekend, under which the US can continue to use the semi-autonomous territory for military bases. But he could also use the agreement as an example of transatlantic cooperation to try to persuade Trump to be more favourable to Nato. Russia’s heightened grey zone activity in recent weeks has fuelled fears inside European Nato countries that this could spill over into a military strike on the alliance’s territory. Last week, French president Emmanuel Macron and Polish prime minister Donald Tusk both highlighted the growing hybrid warfare threat from Moscow. Barrons said Burnham should remind Trump that the US is stronger inside Nato. He said: “Mr Burnham can reassure Mr Trump that the UK will step up to the mark in Nato and acknowledge the US’s new strategy which does not include subsidising European security in the way that it has since 1949. “He can, however, remind Mr Trump that the US is very substantially stronger in an Alliance with 500 million prosperous Europeans rather than 135 million poor Russians.” Defence spending Burnham and Chancellor John Healey have pledged to spend 3.5 per cent of GDP on defence by 2035, but have not said how they will reach the target or committed to 3 per cent by 2030 as a staging post. Given his previous criticism of European Nato countries not pulling their weight on defence spending, Trump may raise this issue during their talks. Barrons said there are still questions over how Burnham will reach the 3.5 per cent milestone and called for the welfare bill to be cut to achieve it. He said: “The problem with all of these aspirations is that they are only actionable if Mr Burnham has recognised them himself and is working on how to reduce UK public spending elsewhere to find defence more money quicker. “We all know that this can only be done by cutting the welfare bill, and it would require the PM to announce some very painful but essential choices in short order. “That would be the sort of leadership this country absolutely needs now, from a Prime Minister that has many other preferences but has been handed the burden of a wartime Prime Minister whether he likes it or not.” And Lord Dannatt, the former head of the British Army, told The i Paper: “Burnham should tell Trump that he intends to raise UK Defence spending by 0.1 per cent of GDP every year from now until 2035. “By then it will have hit the 3.5 per cent target. “Having told Trump this, he must order John Healey to announce this in the October budget. “In this way, defence planners will know exactly how much they have to spend over the next nine years and can place appropriate contracts with industry, large and small, for the equipment, ammunition and logistic support that the UK Armed Forces need.”