German Defense Minister: "We have lost eight years; we need to accelerate our efforts."

Germany's Defense Minister Boris Pistorius pointed out that France, which has bilateral security agreements with both the United Kingdom and Germany, has endorsed the new treaty.

He added that while the Scandinavian and Baltic allies raised alarms when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, much of Europe was slow to respond.

"We hit the 'snooze' button and turned away, while other countries stayed alert. As a result, we lost almost eight years, and now we need to catch up," Pistorius stated.

Under the terms of the agreement, Germany will periodically station aircraft in Scotland to help protect the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean. Berlin and London will collaborate on the production of military vehicles and ground drones, as well as work on equipping German Sea King helicopters (which Germany transferred to Ukraine) with modern missile systems.

Rheinmetall will open a new factory, creating 400 jobs and becoming the first manufacturer of artillery gun barrels in the UK in a decade.