Le disgrace! France’s Macron rubs salt in Starmer’s wounds by visiting Cyprus for ‘safety’ talks over Iran drone strikes whereas Royal Navy warships stay in Portsmouth

Emmanuel Macron will rub salt into Keir Starmer‘s Cyprus wound today by visiting the island for ‘security talks’ before the Royal Navy even leaves port to help defend a UK base from Iranian attacks.

The French president will meet with Cypriot president Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis as a carrier strike group of EU warships heads for the Eastern Mediterranean.

France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands all have assets steaming to protect Cyprus after Mitsotakis issued a plea for help following a March 1 drone strike on RAF Akrotiti.

Britain is sending air defence destroyer HMS Dragon and readying the carrier HMS Prince of Wales, but they both remain in Portsmouth. 

When they do sail it will take around a week for them to arrive, while the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle cleared the Straits of Gibraltar on Friday.

As Macron visits local leaders today to provide reassurance, Sir Keir made a low-key visit to a community centre on London, where he talked about the cost of living. 

He will promise to protect Britons from the economic impact of the Middle East conflict as oil prices soared, with fears the conflict will see petrol pass £2 per litre at the pump.

Cyprus was again targeted by Iranian-made drones on Monday, leading Macron to order France’s Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean. 

He also sent a frigate and air defence units to the island nation, which is home to around 2,000 British personnel and their families. 

The Elysee said: ‘This trip is intended to demonstrate France’s solidarity with Cyprus, a member state of the European Union with which we have a strategic partnership.’ 

France has insisted its stance in the region is ‘strictly defensive’. 

The visit will also allow Macron ‘to emphasise the importance of guaranteeing freedom of navigation and maritime security in the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz, in particular through the European Union’s Aspides maritime operation’, his office added. 

There have been numerous attacks on ships navigating the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint in the Gulf, since the US-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28.

A government spokesman for Cyprus, Konstantinos Letymbiotis, said the visit will allow the leaders of Cyprus, Greece, and France to assess the ‘high level of coordination’ between their nations. 

Letymbiotis also highlighted the role of Italy, which like Britain, has deployed a warship to Cyprus.

On Sunday, Macron said he had also spoken with the Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and the president of Azerbaijan.

Discussing the region with the Qatari ruler, Macron said he highlighted France’s ‘defensive military support,’ particularly in the air, which he added is deployed to the ‘benefit of Qatar’.

The French president said: ‘Qatar and France share the same conviction: beyond the clamour of arms, lasting stability for all must come through de-escalation and negotiation.’

Macron also said he offered France’s ‘support and solidarity’ to Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev after a drone strike on the country, which neighbours Iran, raised fears that the Middle East war could spill into the Caucasus.

The Royal Navy faced further embarrassment on Thursday as more European countries sent warships to the eastern Mediterranean that will arrive before Britain’s HMS Dragon.

Spain and the Netherlands confirmed their frigates will protect Cyprus, where RAF Akrotiri remains vulnerable.  

While the Royal Air Force delivered a Wildcat helicopter to Cyprus on Friday, the most significant British reinforcement to land on the island was Defence Secretary John Healey, who was accompanied by a journalist from The Guardian.

Mr Healey refused to rule out British troops being drawn into the US and Israel’s attacks on Iran but would not speculate on future commitments as he visited the military base.

He was forced to take cover as another warning of Iranian drones was sounded – following an attack on the base on Sunday evening. 

According to Cypriot officials, this attack, which damaged the runway and a hangar, was carried out by Iran-backed Hezbollah forces in Lebanon. 

They appeared to be targeting US bombers in a separate part of the base.  

It is understood the Iranian drone that hit RAF Akrotiri on Sunday, fired from Lebanon, was equipped with Russian military hardware. 

Components of the drone recovered by the British military intelligence have now been sent to a laboratory in the UK for further investigation, The Times reports.  

It comes after sources claimed that Russia is providing Iran with intelligence on the location of US military assets, including warships and aircraft in the Middle East.

US President Donald Trump said he had received ‘no indication’ Russia is helping Iran.

‘If they are, they’re not doing a very good job, because Iran is not doing too well,’ he said. 

However three officials familiar with the intelligence said Russia had been assisting Iran since the war began.

One source told The Washington Post the alleged Russian support amounted to a ‘pretty comprehensive effort’ to help its ally Tehran target American forces in the region.

The UK’s chief of the defence staff, Sir Richard Knighton, said he had ‘no doubt’ that Russia had been sharing intelligence with Iran.

However Russia’s ambassador to the UK, Andrey Kelin, told Sky News on Saturday that Moscow is ‘not neutral’, adding that Russia was ‘supportive to Iran’.