Russia has always opposed a U-S NATO-led European defence system that could knock out enemy missiles- but with the conflict in Ukraine, Germany is signing up other countries to join its programme. For a nation that has been a persistent laggard in defence spending, and a reluctant supplier of weapons to Ukraine, is this finally the time Berlin burnishes its defensive credentials? Edward Hunter Christie Senior Research Fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs Elisabeth Braw Resident Fellow, Foreign and Defence Policy at the American Enterprise Institute Peter Roberts Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute