UPDATE - Trump affirms US commitment to Diego Garcia military base amid lease concerns

UPDATES WITH STATEMENT BY UK GOVERNMENT

By Diyar Guldogan and Burak Bir

WASHINGTON/LONDON (AA)—US President Donald Trump said Thursday he had "very productive" discussions with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer about the Island of Diego Garcia.

"It is the site of a major U.S. Military Base, strategically situated in the middle of the Indian Ocean and, therefore, of great importance to the National Security of the United States," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump acknowledged the lease agreement negotiated by Starmer, calling it “the best he could make,” but stressed the US reserves the right to act if the lease were ever compromised or if US operations were threatened.

“I retain the right to militarily secure and reinforce the American presence in Diego Garcia,” he said.

In a statement, Starmer's office said the pair agreed on the importance of the deal to secure the joint UK–US base on Diego Garcia, "which remains vital to shared security interests."

"The UK and US will continue to work closely on the implementation of the deal, they agreed," it noted.

According to the statement, the leaders also discussed the ongoing peace negotiations as the British premier expressed his "deep concern" about Russia's continued attacks.

Last month, planned parliamentary debates on the UK's deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius were delayed following backlash from Trump.

The dispute over the Chagos Archipelago deal resurfaced after Trump had criticized the agreement signed by the UK and Mauritius as "an act of great stupidity."

In May last year, the UK and Mauritius signed a deal to transfer sovereignty over the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius, ending over two centuries of British rule, in exchange for allowing the US and UK to continue operating the strategically important Diego Garcia military base for the next 99 years.

The agreement has not yet entered into force, as it is pending domestic ratification.

The Chagos Archipelago, a group of seven atolls comprising over 60 islands in the central Indian Ocean, is located about 500 kilometers (310 miles) south of the Maldives.