The German Chancellor will officially visit the United Kingdom, with a focus on deepening defense cooperation.

According to the UK Prime Minister's office, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for the first official visit to the UK on the 17th in London. The two sides will hold high-level talks and sign the first UK-German Bilateral Friendship and Cooperation Treaty. The treaty covers a wide range of key areas including security, defense, immigration, trade, and more, with important breakthroughs in defense cooperation. The leaders of the two countries will announce further deepening of cooperation in the field of high-end defense equipment, promoting joint exports of advanced weapons systems such as the "Boxer" armored vehicle and the "Typhoon" fighter jet. According to the agreement, the UK and Germany will jointly conduct a global export promotion program to facilitate the entry of jointly produced equipment into third-party markets.