While Sir Keir Starmer remained in London, Emmanuel Macron boarded a plane for Cyprus on Monday — the most visible sign yet of a growing gulf between France’s muscular response to the Iran crisis and Britain’s hesitant one.

The French president touched down in Paphos to sit down with Cypriot president Nikos Christodoulides and Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, with Paris framing the trip as a concrete demonstration of commitment to an EU ally under fire.

Fresh Iranian drone attacks on Cyprus on Monday had already prompted Macron to dispatch the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean, along with a frigate and air defence units. Around 2,000 British service personnel and their families are based on the island.

The Elysee reportedly issued the following statement: “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.”

Macron is also said to have used the occasion to flag France’s determination to keep shipping lanes open, saying he would “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.”

The Hormuz strait has been a flashpoint for attacks on commercial vessels since Washington and Tel Aviv launched their offensive against Tehran on February 28.

Europe fills the gap

France is not alone, according to the Daily Mail. Spain and the Netherlands have both reportedly committed frigates to Cyprus’s defence, with their vessels expected to dock before Britain’s HMS Dragon — still days away after being pulled from maintenance. Italy has also put a warship in the water.

Cypriot government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis welcomed the three-way summit as a chance to demonstrate the “high level of coordination” between Nicosia, Athens and Paris, while noting Italy’s parallel contribution.

Macron’s diplomatic push extended beyond Cyprus. In a call with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, he underlined that France’s air assets in the region were working to the “benefit of Qatar,” adding as per the report: “Qatar and France share the same conviction: beyond the clamour of arms, lasting stability for all must come through de-escalation and negotiation.”

The Express also understands he reached out to Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev after a drone struck the country — which shares a border with Iran — stoking fears that the Middle East conflict could bleed into the Caucasus. Macron told Aliyev he had France’s “support and solidarity.”

Healey ducks for cover

Britain’s most consequential contribution to Cyprus so far has been a visit from Defence Secretary John Healey, who arrived at RAF Akrotiri alongside a Guardian journalist. A Wildcat helicopter touched down on Friday, but Healey’s trip was overshadowed when drone sirens forced him to take cover — a vivid illustration of the threat still facing the base.

Sunday evening brought another strike. A drone punched through the perimeter, damaging the runway and a hangar. Nicosia attributed the attack to Iran-backed Hezbollah firing from southern Lebanon, with the intended targets believed to be American bombers operating from a separate section of the facility.

Healey reportedly declined to rule out British forces becoming more deeply embroiled in the US-Israeli offensive but refused to be drawn on what future commitments might look like.

Russian fingerprints

According to the report, an examination of wreckage from the Sunday drone strike revealed Russian military components inside the weapon. The recovered hardware has been shipped to a UK laboratory for detailed analysis.

The finding fits a broader pattern. Three sources with access to the relevant intelligence told The Washington Post that Moscow had been running what one described as a “pretty comprehensive effort” to feed Tehran information about the whereabouts of American military assets across the theatre.

The Express reported that Britain’s chief of defence staff Sir Richard Knighton said he had “no doubt” about Russian intelligence-sharing with Iran. Trump took the opposite view, insisting he had received “no indication” of any such activity. “If they are, they’re not doing a very good job, because Iran is not doing too well,” he said.

Moscow’s ambassador to London Andrey Kelin saw little point in pretending otherwise, telling Sky News on Saturday that Russia was “not neutral” in the conflict and remained “supportive to Iran.”