Rishi Sunak arrives in Kyiv with £2.5B and a security deal
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak arrived in Ukraine on Friday morning, bringing with him the promise of £2.5 billion in military support, as well as humanitarian aid and security guarantees.
Commending Ukraine for its "unfaltering" determination to repel the "brutal Russian invasion" over the past two years, Sunak said: "I am here today with one message: the U.K. will also not falter. We will stand with Ukraine, in their darkest hours and in the better times to come."
Ahead of a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Sunak said the U.K. would provide a total of £2.5 billion in military aid to Ukraine in the 2024/25 financial year, an increase of £200 million on the previous two years.
At least £200 million of the funding from the U.K. is to be spent on a major push to rapidly procure and produce thousands of drones for Ukraine, including surveillance, long-range strike and sea drones, according to a statement by No. 10 announcing Sunak's trip to Kyiv.
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It would be the largest delivery of drones to Ukraine from any nation, the statement said, with most expected to be manufactured in the U.K.
Sunak will also sign a security cooperation agreement with Zelenskyy on Friday, after G7 nations agreed to provide Ukraine with bilateral security assurances at last year's NATO summit in Vilnius.
“The U.K. is already one of Ukraine’s closest partners, because we recognize their security is our security," Sunak said in remarks briefed to the press on Friday morning. "Today we are going further — increasing our military aid, delivering thousands of cutting-edge drones, and signing a historic new Security Agreement to provide Ukraine with the assurances it needs for the long term.”
The U.K.-Ukraine Agreement on Security Cooperation, to be signed by Sunak and Zelenskyy, comes after G7 nations agreed to provide Ukraine with bilateral security assurances at last year's NATO summit in Vilnius. According to No. 10, it "formalises a range of support the UK has been and will continue to provide for Ukraine’s security, including intelligence sharing, cyber security, medical and military training, and defence industrial cooperation."
It also commits the U.K. to provide “swift and sustained” assistance for Ukraine's defense, should Russia attack the country again.