UK seeks stronger defense ties with Germany amid Russian threats

UK Foreign Minister David Lammy has expressed London's intention to expand cooperation in the defence sector with Germany and the other European partners in view of the threat from Russia.
"I think we should be very concerned about the hard power war that is going on, and that means us doing more in terms of Europe's industrial military capability," Lammy told dpa on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
"When you think about European defence, I think that the partnership between the UK and Germany is central, alongside, of course, our French colleagues and also the Baltic states," Lammy said.
"I think we should be very concerned about the cyberwarfare that's been undertaken at the moment," Lammy said, stressing that disinformation was "undermining our democracies."
The new Labour government in the UK, in office since July, wants a reset in the country's relation with Germany and the EU.
To this end, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have announced a comprehensive agreement on all areas of cooperation between Berlin and London. The new treaty is set to be negotiated in the coming months before being signed early next year.
"Let me just say we won the general election on July the fifth. I was in Germany, the first country to visit on July the sixth, and that is an indication of the importance that we place in our relationship with Germany," Lammy said.
"We're very pleased to be working on this friendship treaty, more people to people, links and cultural ties."
The treaty is intended to set up cooperation between the two countries in on wide range of issues, including security policy and tackling illegal migration as well as address economic cooperation.