Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has tried to strike a combative posture on the opening day of the NATO summit in London. He told leaders of the military alliance that Britain’s commitment to NATO is “rock solid”.

Trying hard to paper over the growing cracks in NATO, the PM said the military alliance provides “a giant shield of solidarity that now protects 29 countries and nearly a billion people”.

Johnson’s bullish remarks come against the backdrop of intensifying divisions in NATO, as dramatically demonstrated by the public spat between the US and French presidents.

At a deeper level, one of NATO’s core powers, Turkey, is gradually drifting away from the alliance, as evidenced by its warming military relationship with NATO adversary Russia.

Turkish demands on NATO to recognize Kurdish-led anti-Turkish groups in Syria as terrorists have fallen on deaf ears.

By way of retaliation, Turkey is set to oppose a NATO defence plan for the Baltic states.

More broadly, the NATO summit in London is playing into the British general election debate.

Reacting to the PM’s tough speech, the Shadow International Trade Secretary, Barry Gardiner, claimed that Labour remains committed to NATO but on the understanding that the “nature of warfare” had changed and that the alliance has to adapt accordingly.

“The way you defend the country is to make sure you don’t go on foreign wars and you don’t start bombing before you start thinking”, Gardiner added.

Meanwhile, in a comical twist, Sky News is reporting that French President, Emmanuel Macron, and Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, were caught on camera "gossiping" about an "unnamed associate", which Sky News believes to be US President, Donald Trump.