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

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.

"We fight together, we train together, we drink beer together," Healey during a press conference alongside Pistorius 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

"We want to strengthen our arms industry,” Pistorius said, standing next to Healey. “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.