Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky was hosted by Britain’s Rishi Sunak in his country residence in Chequers near London on Monday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Britain pledges missiles, attack drones, training of Ukrainians pilots
Just before Zelensky’s arrival, the British government said it would supply Ukraine with further hundreds of air defence missiles and hundreds of attack drones with a range of over 200 kilometres, according to officials.
This is on top of the Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles announced last week, news outlets reported.
The Ukrainian president said it was important for the West “to send fighter jets as well,” British broadcaster the BBC reported.
Meanwhile, the UK prime minister said providing fighter jets was "not a straightforward thing," but at the same stated that Britain would form "a key part of the coalition of countries" providing that support, according to the BBC.
The British government also said it would begin basic training of Ukrainian pilots, the Reuters news agency reported.
Sunak pledged that Britain would be “sustaining our support” for Ukraine’s “resistance to a terrible war of aggression they did not choose or provoke.”
Zelensky said Ukraine and the UK were "real partners," while a spokesman for Sunak described the two–hour meeting at Chequers as "warm and collegiate," according to news outlets.
It was another part of Zelensky’s unannounced whirlwind tour of Europe that also took in Rome, Berlin and Paris, the UK’s The Guardian newspaper reported.
Zelensky’s tour of Western allies
On Sunday, the Ukrainian president met with the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin as the German government announced a new military package worth EUR 2.7 billion.
Zelensky hailed the aid as “the largest military aid package since the beginning of Russia’s invasion.”
While in Germany, Zelensky also collected the prestigious Charlemagne prize granted to him and the Ukrainian people in honour of their services to Europe, the PAP news agency reported.
Later in the day, he met with France’s President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, according to news outlets.
Afterwards, the French government announced dozens more light tanks and armoured vehicles for Ukraine’s army, as well as training for the soldiers using them, according to The Guardian.
Zelensky’s whistle-stop tour of Western allies came as Ukraine continued to prepare for a much-awaited counteroffensive against Russian forces, the BBC reported.
The Ukrainian president told reporters at Chequers on Monday that his country needed “a bit more time” to launch the counteroffensive to reclaim territory captured by Russia, according to the PAP news agency.
Zelensky urges 'positive political decision' by NATO
Earlier on Monday, Zelensky renewed his appeal to the NATO alliance to make a “positive political decision” on Ukraine’s bid for membership at its July summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, news outlets reported.
The Ukrainian president made his remarks in a video address to the Copenhagen Democracy Summit.
Zelensky also said that Finland joining NATO showed the strength of security guarantees, and thanked Denmark and other allies for their resolve in supporting Ukraine’s war effort against the Russian invasion, according to The Guardian.
‘More new and powerful weapons’ for Ukraine: Zelensky
On Monday night, Zelenskiy told Ukrainians in a video address that he was returning home with new military help and newer, more powerful weapons, Reuters reported.
Summarising his tour of Western allies, Ukraine’s president said: “We are returning home with new defence packages: more new and powerful weapons for the frontline, more protection for our people. More political support.”
Meanwhile on the frontlines, four people were killed in a Russian missile attack that hit a hospital in Ukraine’s eastern city of Avdiivka on Monday, Reuters reported, citing regional officials.
Monday was day 446 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, Reuters, BBC, The Guardian, president.gov.ua