Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in the United Kingdom on Monday, July 27, to meet Prime Minister Andy Burnham, becoming the British leader’s first international visitor since taking office.
Burnham reaffirmed the UK’s “unwavering” support for Ukraine, while Downing Street described the visit as a demonstration of the close relationship between the two countries.
During the visit, Burnham and Zelensky are due to visit a naval base where the UK will announce the sharing of the intellectual property behind the Stone Cloak electronic warfare system, allowing Ukraine to manufacture the drone jamming technology domestically. The Ministry of Defence said thousands of the devices have already been supplied to Ukrainian forces and that the technology will also be incorporated into Britain’s next generation of long range weapons under Project Brakestop.
Before the meeting, Zelensky said the UK and Ukraine had built “the strongest relationship in the history of cooperation” and identified air defence, maritime security and joint defence production as the key priorities of his visit.
The two leaders are also expected to meet more than 200 Ukrainian military personnel taking part in Exercise Sea Breeze, a UK hosted maritime training programme aimed at strengthening Black Sea operations and counter mine capabilities.
Britain has committed £25 billion in military and financial support to Ukraine since Russia’s full scale invasion. Burnham said he intends to maintain that commitment, stating that his support for Ukraine remains “100%.”
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