KYIV: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Kyiv on Thursday on an unannounced visit to sign a “100-year accord” and shore up support for Ukraine ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
It is Starmer’s first official visit to Kyiv since taking office in July, and comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy holds a flurry of meetings with his country’s allies ahead of Trump’s return next week.
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Starmer was greeted at Kyiv railway station by UK ambassador to Ukraine Martin Harris.
The prime minister is expected to sign a “landmark 100-year partnership to deepen security ties” between the UK and Ukraine and meet with Zelenskyy, Downing Street said in a statement.
“Putin’s ambition to wrench Ukraine away from its closest partners has been a monumental strategic failure,” Starmer said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago.
“Instead, we are closer than ever, and this partnership will take that friendship to the next level,” he said of the accord.
The deal commits the two sides to cooperate on defence and battlefield technology, such as drones, while implementing a system to help locate grain from occupied parts of Ukraine exported by Russia.
“This is not just about the here and now, it is also about an investment in our two countries for the next century, bringing together technology development, scientific advances and cultural exchanges, and harnessing the phenomenal innovation shown by Ukraine in recent years for generations to come,” added Starmer.
He is also expected to announce an extra £40 million to aid Ukraine’s post-war economic recovery.
Italy visit
Zelenskyy had earlier said that he and Starmer would discuss the possibility of having Western troops stationed in Ukraine to oversee a ceasefire agreement, a divisive proposal initially put forward by French President Emmanuel Macron.
The UK has been one of Ukraine’s biggest military backers, pledging £12.8 billion ($16 billion) in military and civilian aid since Russia invaded three years ago.
The US remains by far Ukraine’s biggest financial backer, but that looks set to change when Trump arrives.
His nominee for secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said Wednesday that the new administration would instead seek “bold diplomacy” to end the war.
“There will have to be concessions made by the Russian Federation, but also by the Ukrainians,” he said.
Trump has previously vowed to end the war within a day, with his aides speaking of leveraging US assistance to Ukraine to force it into territorial concessions.
As part of Ukraine’s whirlwind diplomatic programme, Italy defence minister Guido Crosetto announced on Thursday that he had also arrived in Kyiv on an official visit for a “series of institutional meetings”.
The visits come at a precarious moment for Ukraine on the battlefield.
Fighting has escalated ahead of Trump’s inauguration on Monday, as both sides seek to gain the upper hand in anticipation of potential negotiations aimed at settling the war, launched by Russia in February 2022.
At several key points in the northern Kharkiv and eastern Donetsk regions, Russian forces have been able to steadily advance by exploiting their advantages in manpower and resources.
In the southern Kherson region, which is partially occupied by Russian forces, Ukrainian officials said one person had been killed overnight by a drone strike.
The governor separately said that a 92-year-old woman had been wounded and sought medical help in the frontline village of Yantarne.
The Ukrainian airforce meanwhile said its air defence systems had shot down 34 Russian drones, including the Iranian-designed Shahed type, over 11 regions of the country.
