UK-France Nuclear Steering Group Advances Progress Under Northwood Declaration.

Senior Officials and Military Personnel from the UK and France met in London to advance nuclear cooperation under the Northwood Declaration. The Nuclear Steering Group (NSG) - jointly chaired by the UK Cabinet Office and the Presidency of the French Republic - discussed the significant progress which had been made to deepen coordination between the independent deterrents of the UK and France.

The NSG noted the importance of any adversary which would consider threatening the vital interests of either nation knowing that they would be confronted by the combined strength of both forces. The NSG hailed the UK’s recent participation in France’s airborne nuclear exercise - Operation Rummy - as an indication of the two nations' increased operational alignment.

They also discussed France’s “Forward Deterrence” initiative. The NSG emphasised the significant value that “Forward Deterrence” provided to European security and deterrence in the Euro-Atlantic and the degree to which it further complicated the calculus of potential adversaries in addition to NATO.

Building on the success of the 2010 Teutates Treaty and the establishment of the UK-France joint testing facility, EPURE, the NSG also agreed to expand cooperation on a range of technical capabilities and to commence reciprocal use of sovereign trials facilities in respective countries.

The NSG reaffirmed shared UK-France commitment to uphold and reinforce the international non-proliferation architecture and to continuing substantive engagement with other Nuclear Weapons States, in particular through the Non-Proliferation Treaty review cycle and in the P5 Process, where France took over from the UK in September 2026.