PARIS: France and Britain will co-host a summit this week to discuss a "coordinated, independent, multinational plan" to safeguard shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday.
Britain had convened "more than 40 nations who share our aim to restore freedom of navigation" and the summit will discuss ways to protect shipping "when the conflict ends," Starmer said.
Britain and France will work on a "peaceful multinational mission" that would be "separate from the warring parties," French President Emmanuel Macron said earlier Monday.
US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February sparked a region-wide war and brought traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to a near standstill, blocking a key route for global oil and gas shipments.
Iran and the United States last week agreed to a two-week cessation of hostilities, including meeting directly for talks in Pakistan on the weekend.
On Sunday, US President Donald Trump ordered his navy to carry out a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz starting Monday.
Trump also said, on his Truth Social platform, that "Other Countries will be involved with this Blockade" but did not specify which ones.
The UK-French initiative, which Macron and Starmer announced on X, appeared to be separate from Trump's announced blockade.
On April 2, a UK-led diplomatic meeting of some 40 countries demanded "the immediate and unconditional reopening" of the vital shipping route.
Macron said the conference would involve "countries prepared to contribute alongside us to a peaceful multinational mission aimed at restoring freedom of navigation in the strait".
"This strictly defensive mission, separate from the warring parties to the conflict, is intended to be deployed as soon as circumstances permit," he said.
The US military said the blockade of the Strait ordered by Trump would begin at 1400 GMT, and apply to all ships leaving or seeking to dock at Iranian ports on either side of the key waterway.
Starmer said Monday that Britain will not join the naval blockade announced by Trump.
