Greenland Arctic Security Agreement, UK-U.S. AI Defence Partnership and G7 Bab al-Mandab Statement

Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and U.S. President Donald Trump signed an agreement at United Nations Headquarters on September 22 amending and supplementing the 1951 defence arrangements for Greenland. The agreement reaffirms the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and recognizes the Greenlandic people’s right to self-determination.

The agreement supports stronger NATO engagement in the Arctic, including planning, presence, exercises and joint intelligence gathering. It allows the United States to modernize and expand Pituffik Space Base and establishes additional defence areas at Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig, subject to implementation details agreed by the parties. It also creates a security framework for foreign investment in particularly sensitive sectors and activities, including critical infrastructure and resource extraction, to be implemented through Greenlandic investment-screening rules.

In his September 22 address to the UN General Assembly, UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced that the UK and United States were developing a new AI defence partnership to protect critical national infrastructure.

Burnham also tasked UK security chiefs to begin work on a new National Centre for Information Defence to detect, attribute and disrupt hostile-state information attacks. He said AI would be placed at the centre of the UK’s 2027 G20 Presidency, with an objective of working toward shared global principles and standards on AI safety, transparency and preparedness.

G7 foreign ministers and the EU High Representative issued a joint statement in New York on September 22 describing the situation in Yemen as a threat to regional stability, global energy security, maritime security and navigational rights and freedoms in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait.

The statement called for an end to attacks on civilian shipping and stressed the need for permanent maritime safety and navigation in order to avoid lasting disruption to global supply chains, specifically identifying flows of energy, fertilizer and food.

Canada and the Nordic-Baltic Eight held their first foreign ministers’ meeting on September 22 in New York. The participants linked the Baltic Sea, North Atlantic and Arctic as interconnected elements of Allied security and highlighted Canada’s role in European security, including participation in the EU SAFE instrument.

Ministers identified practical areas for deeper cooperation in defence industry, maritime security, critical infrastructure protection, economic security and countering hybrid threats. They agreed to convene regularly in a Canada-NB8 format and continue advancing shared security, defence and resilience priorities.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Angolan President João Lourenço met on September 22 on the margins of UNGA and discussed deeper commercial and economic ties, including cooperation in mining and critical minerals, which the Canadian readout described as a strategic priority for both countries.

The leaders welcomed progress toward a Memorandum of Understanding on economic cooperation and agreed to work toward its conclusion. They also welcomed the opportunity for enhanced cooperation through a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement. Canada said its exports to Angola exceeded C$200 million in 2025 after more than doubling.

ASEAN economic ministers and the United Kingdom held their sixth consultation in Manila on September 22 and endorsed a new Joint Ministerial Declaration on Future Economic Cooperation together with an updated ASEAN-UK Economic Work Plan.

The framework prioritizes open markets, economic resilience, financial services, regulatory reform, digital economy cooperation, clean energy and public-private partnerships. The meeting also highlighted supply-chain integration, the ASEAN Power Grid and continuing cooperation on critical minerals, including UK support for the ASEAN Minerals Investment Forum.