Ukraine's Zelenskyy in UK to meet new PM Burnham
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy traveled to Portsmouth for UK PM Andy Burnham's first meeting with a foreign leader since taking office. The UK pledged "unwavering support"
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy traveled to Portsmouth for UK PM Andy Burnham's first meeting with a foreign leader since taking office. The UK pledged "unwavering support" in Ukraine's ongoing defense against Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in the UK on Monday where he and new prime minister Andy Burnhamdiscussed continued defense cooperation. The two visited some 200 Ukrainian service members training with UK troops at Portsmouth Naval Base. The Ukrainian forces have been sharpening their war-fighting and countermining measures for operations in the Black Sea. Speaking in Portsmouth, Burnham said, "Volodymyr, you are the first leader I have welcomed in person since taking office and that is no accident." "It is intended to send a very clear message," the new prime minister added, "We are with Ukraine 100%, I am personally with you 100%, and I will honor every commitment this country has made to Ukraine in full." Posting on X after the meeting, Zelenskyy wrote: "We greatly appreciate that our team is the first to visit the United Kingdom since Andy Burnham took office. This is an important signal of support, and the Prime Minister assured us that this support remains unwavering." UK providing new radar jamming technology to aid deep strike capabilities Burnham announced that the UK is now providing Kyiv with access to its "Stone Cloak" electronic jamming technology, with thousands of the jammers already given to Kyiv according to Downing Street.
When affixed to drones, the battle-tested, tablet-sized Stone Cloak jammers can shield weapons from Russian air-defense systems detection, providing Kyiv with more lethal long-distance strike capabilities. "Stone Cloak is the best of homegrown British innovation and proven on the frontline, and it will be vital to protecting our security in both our countries," Burnham said. The deal comes as Ukraine has shifted from a purely defensive posture and increased its attacks on sites deep within Russia, notably its targeting of oil, military and logistics installations. On Sunday, Zelenskyy told UK broadcaster Sky News that he hopes to sign a strong "drone deal" with Burnham to boost drone production capacity and technology sharing, adding, "we don't have enough missiles" to defend against Russia's continued air attacks. Russia, said Zelenskyy, "can increase the production of ballistic missile missiles and that's why we need air defense as soon as possible." Putin's strategy behind Russia's largest missile attack To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video UK support for Kyiv continues despite a revolving cast of prime ministers Zelenskyy's visit is Burnham's first bilateral meeting with a foreign leader since taking over at Downing Street last week and comes as the Ukrainian prepares to meet US President Donald Trump in Washington on Tuesday.
The BriefWire