Keir Starmer has become the first UK prime minister to be presented with the Légion d’honneur by a French president, in recognition of his work with France on the security of Europe.

Emmanuel Macron awarded the historic honour to Starmer for his leadership in setting up the coalition of the willing – a group of countries chaired by France and the UK that have pledged to support Ukraine – at a critical moment for Europe in early 2025.

The only other British prime minister to receive a similar award – at a higher level, the Grand-Croix of the Légion d’honneur – was Winston Churchill in 1958 in recognition of his leadership and close ties to France during the second world war.

Awarding the honour to Starmer underlines the significant shift from Macron’s more testy relationships with some previous prime ministers, the French leader having frequently clashed with the Conservatives Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss over Brexit.

On one of his final engagements on the international stage, Starmer was in Paris to attend Bastille Day celebrations, meeting British troops involved in the ceremonial events before watching the parade alongside Macron and others including Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

At Starmer’s final coalition of the willing summit on Monday, Macron, Zelenskyy and Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, paid tribute to his role on the world stage, with his approach to international affairs seen as one of the strengths of his time in office.

Presenting the award, Macron said Starmer had played a “historic role” in establishing the group of countries to support Ukraine.

He said: “Prime minister, dear Keir, I wanted to reiterate my gratitude and the gratitude of the French people, obviously for your years as a prime minister. But I have to say, beyond that, for your personal leadership and your commitments for obviously your country, but the security of our Europe, Ukraine, the bilateral relationship, your decency.

“I have to say, all the human qualities that we learn to appreciate, all those remain very important to all of us. We found with you a very reliable and friendly partner.”

While Churchill, the former US president Dwight D Eisenhower, the former West German president Willy Brandt and Nelson Mandela have been among those receiving the higher-order Grand-Croix, more controversially the Légion d’honneur was also given – though later revoked – to the then Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, in 2001 and to Vladimir Putin in 2006, both by Jacques Chirac.

Before the award, Zelenskyy had praised Starmer’s “constant, steadfast support”, which the prime minister said would continue under his successor, Andy Burnham, while Merz said Starmer would “phone you occasionally to get your opinion on this or that”.

Successive British prime ministers have supported Ukraine since Boris Johnson condemned the invasion by Russia in February 2022, providing military and humanitarian aide and sanctioning Russia. This backing continued under his fellow Tories Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.

The coalition of the willing is a group of over 30 countries that have pledged financial and military support to Ukraine, placed sanctions on Russia, and proposed deployment of a multinational peacekeeping force after hostilities cease.