Starmer will sign a partnership agreement in Ukraine

Sir Keir Starmer has arrived in Kyiv to sign what Downing Street is calling a “landmark 100-year partnership” with Ukraine.

The pact formalizes the economic and military support already promised to the country and offers more.

It is the prime minister’s first visit to the country since taking office last summer in a show of support for Ukraine, days before Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is keen to negotiate firm security guarantees from key allies such as Britain, wary that the new US administration could start pushing Ukraine towards peace with Russia.

Unlike other prime ministers who rushed to Kiev, Sir Keir took his time with the visit, but after six months in office he arrived in Ukraine pledging long-term support against what he called Russia’s “illegal and barbaric invasion”. .

At the Kyiv railway station, he was met by the British ambassador to Ukraine, Martin Harris, and the representative of Ukraine in London, Valery Zaluzhny.

Speaking on a trip to the country, Sir Keir said: “It’s not just about what’s happening here and now, it’s about investing in our two countries for the next century.”

“(Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s ambitions to tear Ukraine away from its closest partners were a monumental strategic failure. Instead, we are closer than ever and this partnership will take this friendship to the next level,” he added.

Trump’s pick for secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said earlier this week that both countries would have to make concessions to end the war.

Thursday’s announcement calls for increased military and economic aid to prove it, as well as expanded military cooperation in maritime security and drones, as well as health care.

Zelensky previously said he was counting on Britain’s help in obtaining security guarantees to deter future attacks.

Joining Nato is high on his wish list, but Ukraine also wants its allies to send peacekeepers to the country when the fighting stops to patrol the current front line, which could become a buffer zone in any peace deal.

On the eve of the visit, Zelensky said that he would discuss it with the Prime Minister.

It builds on the £12.8bn of support the UK has already given to Ukraine. The country has also already committed to providing the country with £3 billion in military aid every year “as long as needed”.

Ukraine has already used British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles to attack Russian military facilities far from the border.

Kyiv welcomed their arrival at the end of last year, while Moscow criticized it.

The partnership, which consists of a treaty and a political declaration, is due to be presented to parliament in the coming weeks.

Plans for this began under the previous Conservative government.

Starmer previously visited Ukraine when he was opposition leader in 2023 and twice hosted President Zelenski in Downing Street after taking office.

Additional reporting by Alex Smith.