Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, will push for closer defence ties with the UK when he meets Gordon Brown, British prime minister, next week in a move that could influence Britain’s most important military procurement programme.

Mr Sarkozy is understood to have written to Mr Brown in recent days, highlighting defence as one of the areas where he believes the two countries could benefit from co-operation. Nuclear energy is another area that Mr Sarkozy is expected to flag up as offering scope for closer links.