New Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis arrived empty handed at his first Nato meeting yesterday as his furious US counterpart castigated allies as 'shameful'.

Mr Jarvis was on the back foot in Brussels with no Defence Investment Plan (DIP) to tout and Pete Hegseth on the warpath.

Despite posting a picture on social media of himself and Mr Hegseth laughing and shaking hands, Mr Jarvis suffered a mauling over Britain's failure to step up defence spending and over the Iran war. 

Mr Hegseth confirmed a major US review of its commitment to Europe and lambasted allies, such as the UK, who 'have yet to show a credible path' to meeting Nato spending targets.

His criticism was backed by Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte, who said he was 'happy' for Mr Hegseth to chastise allies for failing to set out spending plans and to increase defence investment.

In a thinly veiled swipe at Britain, the US Secretary of War said: 'Some of Nato's largest economies, some of our richest countries, allies that are happiest to go on about the rules-based international order and middle powers banding together, still seem to think the era of freeloading is here. Europe was not supposed to be a dependency of the United States.'

Speaking about the lack of support for the US when it launched its war on Iran, Mr Hegseth added: 'Too many allies said no or tried to drown us in legal debates or criticised us publicly. It was shameful.'

Labour's refusal to set benchmarks for when UK defence spending would rise from 2.6 per cent of GDP to 3.5, was a major reason behind the resignation of Mr Jarvis' predecessor John Healey last week. 

It appeared to undermine the entire alliance, with Mr Hegseth warning US commitments to Europe 'will be contingent on other countries meeting their spending targets'. 

Effectively, the less Britain spends, the more US money will be withdrawn from Nato funds.

Unveiling a six-month review of America's military footprint on the continent – which could lead to a large-scale withdrawal of its resources – he said he would 'keep a close eye' on allies who fail to keep up with spending commitments.

US spending will also be reliant on European allies permitting American military aircraft to fly through their airspace – a move inspired by refusals by Spain and France during US-Israeli bombing missions against Iran. 

Mr Hegseth – who spent less than two hours at the summit and declined to meet Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky – also attacked European countries' border policies and their increased welfare spending.

At a press conference, only one question about UK defence spending was permitted. Mr Jarvis was asked whether he agreed with his predecessor's view that the Treasury's offer to fund the DIP 'fell well short of what was required'.

The former Army officer dodged the question, replying: 'I have huge respect for my predecessor who is a good friend and a neighbour of mine. 

'It has been striking the number of people here today who have taken the opportunity to thank him for his work. 

'My priority now is to make sure our Armed Forces have the resources they need to do the very difficult job of work that is being asked of them.'

A Russian warship that fired warning shots at a British-flagged yacht in the English Channel on Tuesday has now escorted a sanctioned shadow fleet vessel through the waterway, it emerged yesterday.

The Admiral Grigorovich is believed to have accompanied the first oil tanker to transit the Strait of Dover since British forces stormed another ship, the Smyrtos, on Sunday.

It comes days after the Bright Future drifted within 165 yards of the heavily-armed frigate in heavy fog and received the warning shots.