Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and British prime minister Keir Starmer, whose country is one of the most prominent supporters of Ukraine in its war against Russia, signed a “historic” agreement on Thursday, providing for a “hundred-year” partnership between Kiev and London, AFP correspondents reported.
“Together we have signed a historic agreement, the first of its kind, a new partnership between the UK and Ukraine that reflects the tremendous affection between our two countries,”Starmer told reporters after the signing in Kiev.
Starmer had arrived in Ukraine earlier in the day for security talks with Zelensky, days before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
The British government announced that Starmer and Zelensky will sign a “100-year partnership” treaty in Kiev, covering areas such as Defense, Science, Energy and trade.
Starmer’s unannounced visit is his first trip to Ukraine since taking office in July. He visited the country in 2023 when he was the leader of the opposition, and has held two rounds of talks with Zelensky at the British Prime Minister’s residence at “10 Downing Street” since he became prime minister.
The United Kingdom is one of the largest military supporters of Ukraine, it has pledged to provide 12.8 billion pounds (16 billion dollars) of military and civilian assistance since the start of the All-Russian war about 3 years ago, and has trained more than 50 thousand Ukrainian soldiers on its territory.
It is planned that Starmer will announce the provision of an additional 40 million pounds sterling (49 million dollars) to support the recovery of the Ukrainian economy after the war.
But the UK’s role pales in comparison to that of the US, and there is deep uncertainty about the fate of us support for Ukraine once Trump takes office on January 20.
The president-elect has expressed reservations about the cost of US aid to Kiev, said he wants to end the war quickly, and plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he has long admired.
Kiev’s allies rushed to provide as much support to Ukraine as possible before Trump’s inauguration, with the aim of putting Ukraine in the strongest possible position for any future negotiations to end the war.
Zelensky noted that in any peace negotiations, Ukraine will need guarantees about its future protection from its larger neighbor.
Starmer’s visit comes two days after German defense minister Boris Pistorius visited the country, where European leaders are considering what security guarantees they could offer as part of any peace deal Trump might push.
In a statement, Mr Starmer said: “[Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s ambition to wrest Ukraine from its closest partners has been a colossal strategic failure… Instead, we are closer than ever, and this partnership will take this friendship to the next level”.
The partnership, which provides 40 million pounds for Ukraine’s economic recovery, includes additional support in terms of checking the availability of grain and trade with Ukraine’s booming technology sector, which produced battle-ready equipment.