Australia's defense minister on Sunday said he aims to deepen defense ties with France, Germany, and the UK during visits to the European partners this week, saying war in Ukraine has increased the importance of cooperation with likeminded nations, Reuters reported.

The trip, from August 29 to September 1, will be Richard Marles' first since centre-left Labor won a general election in May.

The government said the France stop would help "restore and renew" their bilateral relationship, calling France one of Australia's "oldest and most capable partners."

Australia in June reached a 555 million euro ($553 million) settlement with French military shipyard Naval Group over its scrapping of a multi-billion dollar submarine deal last year.

Canberra hoped the settlement would help repair a rift after the previous government ditched the deal in favor of building nuclear-powered submarines with the United States and Britain under a new alliance dubbed AUKUS.

This week's trip will also see Marles participate in a roundtable with German defense industry representatives, while in Britain he will visit shipyards, the government said.

"Our relationship with the United Kingdom is both historic and mutually beneficial, and is reflected through our continued commitment to AUKUS," Marles said. "My visit to Europe comes at a time when the war in Ukraine has shown the importance of increasing cooperation with likeminded partners, both in Europe and the Indo-Pacific."

In June, Marles visited Japan to promote defense cooperation to counterbalance China's growing military influence in Asia.