The Royal Navy will patrol the waters off Greenland by the end of 2026, Sir Keir Starmer has confirmed.Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, the PM revealed Britain will send its carrier strike group to the north Atlantic and Arctic waters later this year.HMS Prince of Wales, the Royal Navy’s largest vessel, will lead the deployment.The mission, named Operation Firecrest, will see British forces working alongside American, Canadian and other Nato partners.”I can announce today that the UK will deploy our carrier strike group to the north Atlantic and the High North this year – led by HMS Prince of Wales, operating alongside the US, Canada and other Nato allies, in a powerful show of our commitment to Euro-Atlantic security,” Sir Keir said.The deployment follows a cooling in tensions over the Arctic territory, which Donald Trump has long eyed up.Last month, tempers flared as Mr Trump threatened to take over Greenland in a bid to shore up American security.The President argued that Washington had to act to prevent Russia or China from gaining a foothold on the resource-rich island.Europe responded by bolstering its Arctic presence – with Britain contributing one officer – in a bid to talk Mr Trump down from the edge.Greenland contains valuable deposits of copper, nickel and rare earth minerals essential for modern technology.It also sits at one end of the “GIUK gap”, a stretch of water between it, Iceland and the UK through which Russian vessels must pass to enter the north Atlantic.And the gap is only getting busier, with Russian naval activity near British waters rising by 30 per cent over the past two years.GREENLAND – READ MORE:Details of Donald Trump’s Greenland deal revealed – including major link to Britain Donald Trump wants Greenland to ‘create his own legacy’, Washington consultant tells GB NewsDonald Trump rules out ‘using force’ to take Greenland as he slams ‘catastrophic’ BritainDuring a Q&A session after his speech, Sir Keir said he was “pleased” that Greenland “is now in a process of dialogue, which is where it should have been”.”The security in the Arctic is really important to all of us and we need to do more. That’s why I announced what I announced about that carrier strike group,” he continued.”I thought that those weeks of Greenland were quite instructive because we had – certainly from the British point of view – the usual mix of common sense pragmatism, but sticking to our values and principles.”And across Europe, we stuck to those values and principles about sovereignty and why sovereignty matters. And it was a period in which there was intense collaboration and security among European leaders,” Sir Keir added.John Healey, the Defence Secretary, said the deployment would “help make Britain warfighting ready”.It will also “boost our contribution to Nato and strengthen our operations with key allies, keeping the UK secure at home and strong abroad”, he said.The carrier strike group will include other advanced Royal Navy warships and RAF F-35 fighter jets.Royal Navy vessels participated in Exercise Joint Viking, a Nato drill in similar freezing conditions off Norway, last year.Separately, 1,500 Royal Marines will travel to Norway, Finland and Sweden later this year for Exercise Cold Response, a training mission focused on defending frozen terrain.Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter
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