British Prime Minister Andy Burnham makes his UN General Assembly debut on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, and holds his first meeting with Donald Trump on the sidelines of the gathering, with Ukraine, the risks and opportunities of artificial intelligence (AI) and the cost of the conflict in the Middle East on the agenda, according to The Associated Press.

Burnham, in office since July, said he will seek “common ground” with Trump and that the two had “found a connection” in two phone calls; in 2017, as mayor of Greater Manchester, he said the US president would not be welcome in the city, and in 2019 he said he would refuse to meet Trump. He is expected to urge Trump to send interceptor missiles to bolster Ukraine’s air defences before another winter of war, and the British government wants to discuss how to restore the free passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, blockaded since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran in February 2026, according to AP. The closure of the route has pushed oil prices up and complicates the British economy.