British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosted German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the eve of Britain's attempt to improve relations with the European Union, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
Starmer spoke with Scholz at Chequers, the UK PMs' country home. It is located in Buckinghamshire, 50 km northwest of London. The two will then travel to Belgium for a meeting with EU leaders on Monday, where the UK leader will seek to “reset” of relations.
While ruling out rejoining the EU trading bloc five years after Brexit, Starmer said he wanted to establish closer relations on defence, energy and trade.
“I think that is certainly in the best interests of the UK, I believe it is in the best interests of the European Union,“ Starmer said. He added that over the past seven months he had noticed a clear difference in approach, tone and relationship between London and Brussels.
According to Starmer's spokesman, the two leaders discussed Ukraine and the Middle East. The prime minister spoke of their shared approach to “key issues and challenges”, including their shared commitment to Kiev as the war with Russia enters its fourth year this month.
The two agreed that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the need to boost and coordinate defence production across Ukraine. Britain and Germany signed a defence pact in October, described by officials as the first of its kind between two NATO members, to bolster European security in the face of growing Russian aggression.
“When I took office as prime minister seven months ago, I was determined to strengthen the relationship between our two countries, which is already very good, but I thought it could be stronger on a number of fronts,” said Starmer, leader of the centre-left Labour Party. "And thanks to your leadership, I think we've made real progress," he added of Scholz.
Scholz said the visit, which included a walk around the grounds of Chequers and lunch, was "a good sign of the very good relationship between our two countries, and indeed between the two of us," referring to himself and Starmer.