UK and Germany team up on defense as fears grow Trump might ditch Ukraine

The United Kingdom’s new Labour government is seeking deeper military ties with Germany and France, in part because of fears that a Trump-government in the US will negatively impact European security.
As reported by Politico, the UK and Germany have strong concerns regarding Donald Trump’s intentions vis-à-vis Europe as a whole and Ukraine in particular.
These concerns have increased since Trump has chosen his running mate, J.D. Vance, who repeatedly stresses his opposition to the US writing what he has called “blank checks” to help Kyiv fight off the Russian invasion.
With its new government, the UK has become more enthusiastic about forging deeper defense co-operation with European allies than its Conservative predecessor, and moved quickly to sign a cooperation deal with Germany on Wednesday 24 July. The deal commits both sides to ramp up industrial coordination and joint operations while trailing much more to come.
“These visits send a clear message that European security will be this government’s first foreign and defense priority,” British Defense Minister John Healey said in a statement.
His German counterpart chimed in by saying that “We want to strengthen our arms industry. We want to work more closely together in the development, production and procurement of weapons and ammunition.”
While the deal won’t mark an immediate sea change in relations between the two armies and defense ministries, it does commit both sides to start standardizing their weapons systems and ammunition.
The Russo-Ukrainian War, and the differences in weaponry donated to Ukraine, has underscored the extent to which Europe’s defense industry is fractured. That’s prompted Europe’s big players to pledge to work more closely together, with the new British government indicating that it’s willing to plug directly into those programs.
The UK and Germany are the top two European contributors to Ukraine when it comes to military aid and the biggest outright spenders on defense, committing €74.9 billion (about $81.29 billion in USD) and €66.8 billion (about $72.50 billion in USD) respectively in 2023, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
In addition, Healey said that the “Objectives set out in Wednesday’s joint declaration … include strengthening UK and German defense industries, reinforcing Euro-Atlantic security, improving the efficiency of joint operations, confronting evolving security challenges such as the cyber domain, and supporting Ukraine.”