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LONDON — <\/span>LONDON (AP) \u2014 Andy Burnham<\/a> once said he would refuse to meet Donald Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now Britain\u2019s prime minister is about to hold his first meeting with the U.S. president, with Ukraine and the soaring cost of conflict in the Middle East at the top of his agenda.<\/p>\n U.S. officials say the two leaders will hold talks on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly<\/a> in New York. Burnham is set to address the annual gathering of world leaders<\/a> on Tuesday, setting out his vision of Britain\u2019s place in an increasingly fractured world order.<\/p>\n Burnham\u2019s only other foreign trip since taking office in July was to Kyiv<\/a>, and he has said he will urge Trump to send interceptor missiles to bolster Ukraine\u2019s air defenses ahead of another winter of war.<\/p>\n The British government also wants to discuss ways to restore free movement of ships through the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, largely blocked since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran in February. The closure of the key route has sent oil prices spiking, complicating Burnham\u2019s efforts to jump-start Britain\u2019s sluggish economy and ease the cost of living.<\/p>\n Like many Labour Party politicians, Burnham was strongly critical of Trump in the past. In 2017 Burnham, as the mayor of Greater Manchester, said the president wouldn\u2019t be welcome in the city. Two years later he said he would refuse to meet Trump if he visited.<\/p>\n After becoming prime minister in July, Burnham said he always tries to find \u201ccommon ground\u201d with other politicians.<\/p>\n Burnham and Trump have spoken twice since Burnham replaced Keir Starmer<\/a> at the helm of the center-left governing party. Trump has called Burnham \u201ca nice guy,\u201d but has also recently needled U.K. officials by expressing support for Irish unification<\/a> and musing about the future of the Falkland Islands<\/a> that are claimed by both Britain and Argentina.<\/p>\n Labour Party chairwoman Bridget Phillipson said Burnham would be \u201cpragmatic.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe won\u2019t agree with the U.S. administration on everything,\u201d Phillipson told Times Radio on Sunday. “We are from different political traditions, we have different approaches. But maintaining that relationship is critical for our national interest and I know that that\u2019s the approach Andy Burnham will always take, putting our country first.\u201d<\/p>\n Starmer went out of his way to flatter Trump, presenting him in the Oval Office in February 2025 with an invitation from King Charles III<\/a> for an unprecedented second state visit<\/a> to the U.K.<\/p>\n British officials felt Starmer\u2019s approach was vindicated when the U.K. struck a trade deal<\/a> with the Trump administration. But Trump soured on Starmer over his refusal to join the Iran war. The president also has repeatedly criticized the U.K.\u2019s immigration and green-energy policies, urging the country to open more of the North Sea<\/a> up to oil drilling.<\/p>\n Burnham is expected to announce a decision soon about whether to approve new oil and gas fields off Scotland.<\/p>\n U.K. officials also are braced for criticism of Britain\u2019s ban on trade with Israeli settlements<\/a> in the occupied West Bank and efforts to regulate big American technology firms.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s threats to seize Greenland alarmed the U.K. and other European allies earlier this year, and Burnham was among leaders expressing relief at the announcement of a deal<\/a> between Greenland, Denmark and the U.S. to bolster the American military presence there but keep the Arctic island under Danish control.<\/p>\n Trump has other, more high-profile, international meetings this week, including one at the White House with Chinese President Xi Jinping<\/a>.<\/p>\n