Britain and Germany team up on defense as fears grow Trump will ditch Ukraine

BERLIN — Europe’s two largest donors of military aid to Ukraine — Germany and Britain — are buddying up in a defense pact as fears grow that a victory for Donald Trump in November’s U.S. election could spell disaster for European security.

Concerns that Washington could dramatically rein in support for Ukraine next year have only increased since Republican candidate Trump picked JD Vance as his running mate. Vance repeatedly stresses his opposition to the U.S. writing what he has called “blank checks” to help Kyiv fight off Russian invasion.

Britain is a stalwart supporter of Ukraine and that will continue under its new center-left Labour government, under Prime Minister Keir Starmer, which won a landslide election this month.

The country’s new Labour government is 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.

As part of a whistle stop tour of Europe, including France, Poland and Estonia over 48 hours this week, British Defense Minister John Healey closed the pact with his German counterpart Boris Pistorius at the Bendlerblock ministry complex in Berlin.

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,” Healey said in a statement.

British Defense Minister John Healey and German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius. | Ralf Hirschberger/AFP via Getty Images

The U.K. 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 and €66.8 billion respectively in 2023, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Three weeks into his tenure as minister, Healey said the new pact will “kickstart a deep, new defense relationship.”

“Objectives set out in Wednesday’s joint declaration … include strengthening U.K. and German defence industries, reinforcing Euro-Atlantic security, improving the efficiency of joint operations, confronting evolving security challenges such as the cyber domain, and supporting Ukraine,” the U.K. defense ministry said.

Back in December, Healey told POLITICO a bilateral defense deal with Germany — along with separate pacts with France and the EU — was a priority for a future Labour government.