PM meeting with NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte: 16 September 2026
The Prime Minister hosted the NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus this afternoon.
The Prime Minister hosted the NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus this afternoon.
The Prime Minister began by thanking the Secretary General for his visit to Oxford and the opportunity to highlight the fantastic defence businesses in the region.
The two leaders agreed that the UK was a leader in defence technology and they discussed how the UK could further support innovation within NATO to ensure the Alliance had the forces of the future across all domains.
The new national space strategy, released last week, would further enhance the UK’s innovation and resilience in the space domain too, the Prime Minister added.
Turning to Ukraine, the Prime Minister reflected on his visit to Kyiv last month and said he was focused on supporting diplomatic efforts to secure further air defence for the country.
The Secretary General thanked the Prime Minister for the UK’s £100m PURL funding contribution for further defensive equipment announced last week.
On the Middle East, both underlined the importance of ensuring long term stability and security in the region.
The leaders looked forward to speaking again soon.