UK to Host Baltic, Nordic Leaders to Find New Ways to Isolate Russia

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Defense Secretary Ben Wallace speak with members of the crew of HMS Dauntless, a Type 45 air-defense destroyer of the Royal Navy that has undergone a refit, as they visit Cammell Laird shipyard in Merseyside Britain, March 10, 2022. REUTERS/Phil Noble/Pool
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Defense Secretary Ben Wallace speak with members of the crew of HMS Dauntless, a Type 45 air-defense destroyer of the Royal Navy that has undergone a refit, as they visit Cammell Laird shipyard in Merseyside Britain, March 10, 2022. REUTERS/Phil Noble/Pool
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UK to Host Baltic, Nordic Leaders to Find New Ways to Isolate Russia

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Defense Secretary Ben Wallace speak with members of the crew of HMS Dauntless, a Type 45 air-defense destroyer of the Royal Navy that has undergone a refit, as they visit Cammell Laird shipyard in Merseyside Britain, March 10, 2022. REUTERS/Phil Noble/Pool
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Defense Secretary Ben Wallace speak with members of the crew of HMS Dauntless, a Type 45 air-defense destroyer of the Royal Navy that has undergone a refit, as they visit Cammell Laird shipyard in Merseyside Britain, March 10, 2022. REUTERS/Phil Noble/Pool

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will host leaders from countries along Russia's northwestern flank next week to discuss ways they can respond to President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, including finding new ways to isolate Russia's economy.

The leaders from countries in the Joint Expeditionary Force, a British-led grouping made up of Denmark, Estonia, Finland and Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden will meet for talks in London on Tuesday.

The leaders are expected to agree to more military exercises in the North Atlantic and Baltic Sea and will discuss the war in Ukraine and energy security, Johnson's office said, Reuters reported.

"European security has been shaken by the attack of Russia on Ukraine, and alongside our partners, we will take action to ensure we emerge stronger and more united than before," Johnson said in a statement.

"Ensuring we are resilient to Putin's threats needs to go beyond our military footing - together alongside our North and Baltic Sea partners we must ensure we are insulated from Russia's interference and impact on our energy supplies, economy and values."

Britain has imposed sanctions on hundreds of Russian individuals and entities, promised to phase out Russian oil imports and banned Russian companies from raising debt and equity in its financial center.



Australia Says Will Not Commit Troops in Advance to Any Conflict

Residential properties are seen near the Sydney Harbour Bridge in, Sydney, Australia, July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams
Residential properties are seen near the Sydney Harbour Bridge in, Sydney, Australia, July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams
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Australia Says Will Not Commit Troops in Advance to Any Conflict

Residential properties are seen near the Sydney Harbour Bridge in, Sydney, Australia, July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams
Residential properties are seen near the Sydney Harbour Bridge in, Sydney, Australia, July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams

Australia will not commit troops in advance to any conflict, Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy said on Sunday, responding to a report that the Pentagon has pressed its ally to clarify what role it would play if the US and China went to war over Taiwan.

Australia prioritizes its sovereignty and "we don't discuss hypotheticals", Conroy said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"The decision to commit Australian troops to a conflict will be made by the government of the day, not in advance but by the government of the day," he said.

The Financial Times reported on Saturday that Elbridge Colby, the US under-secretary of defense for policy, has been pressing Australian and Japanese officials on what they would do in a Taiwan conflict, although the US does not offer a blank cheque guarantee to defend Taiwan.

Colby posted on X that the Department of Defense is implementing President Donald Trump's "America First" agenda of restoring deterrence, which includes "urging allies to step up their defense spending and other efforts related to our collective defense".

China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own and has not ruled out the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control. Taiwan President Lai Ching-te rejects China's sovereignty claims, saying only Taiwan's people can decide their future.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, speaking in Shanghai at the start of a six-day visit to China that is likely to focus on security and trade, said Canberra did not want any change to the status quo on Taiwan.

Conroy said Australia was concerned about China's military buildup of nuclear and conventional forces, and wants a balanced Indo-Pacific region where no country dominates. He said China was seeking a military base in the Pacific, which was not in Australia's interest, Reuters reported.

'GOAL IS NO WAR'

Talisman Sabre, Australia's largest war-fighting exercise with the United States, opened on Sunday on Sydney Harbour and will involve 40,000 troops from 19 countries, including Japan, South Korea, India, Britain, France and Canada.

Conroy said China's navy might be watching the exercise to collect information, as it had done in the past.

The war games will span thousands of kilometers from Australia's Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island to the Coral Sea on Australia's east coast, in a rehearsal of joint war fighting, said Vice Admiral Justin Jones, chief of joint operations for the Australian Defense Force.

The air, sea, land and space exercises over two weeks will "test our ability to move our forces into the north of Australia and operate from Australia", Jones told reporters.

"I will leave it to China to interpret what 19 friends, allies and partners wanting to operate together in the region means to them. But for me... it is nations that are in search of a common aspiration for peace, stability, a free and open Indo-Pacific," he said.

US Army Lieutenant General Joel Vowell, deputy commanding general for the Pacific, said Talisman Sabre would improve the readiness of militaries to respond together and was "a deterrent mechanism because our ultimate goal is no war".

"If we could do all this alone and we could go fast, but because we want to go far, we have to do it together and that is important because of the instability that is resident in the region," Vowell said.

The United States is Australia's major security ally. Although Australia does not permit foreign bases, the US military is expanding its rotational presence and fuel stores on Australian bases, which from 2027 will have US Virginia submarines at port in Western Australia.