Ukraine has joined a European ballistic missile defence coalition with nine other countries, including the UK, Germany.
This coalition is to protect Europe from ballistic missiles, drawing on Kyiv’s wartime experience.
Sir Keir Starmer joined French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as the leaders of Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden in establishing an integrated anti-ballistic missile alliance.
A statement from France’s presidency said: ‘We believe that the protection of Europe requires a global solution of integrated missile defence architecture to deter and defeat future missile threats — developed through collective effort, technological openness, and trusted industrial cooperation.
‘It will complement existing ballistic missile defence systems, including sovereign European solutions already acquired, or to be acquired by participating countries.’
The Prime Minister could be seen giving Mr Macron a warm embrace at the Coalition of the Willing summit at the Hotel des Invalides in Paris on Monday.
With Ukraine increasingly exposed to Russian ballistic missiles, leaders gathered in the French capital, along with about a dozen firms from the defence sector, to press on with what they called the Integrated Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition.
The country is critically low on munitions for its systems and over the past month has been largely unable to down ballistic missiles, which travel at several times the speed of sound.
It has pleaded with allies for more supplies and has also pushed Europe to work with it on its own anti-ballistic air defence system.
