The UK’s support for Ukraine “will not waver” and the prime ministerial transition will not “change that dynamic”, Sir Keir Starmer has said on his final visit to Kyiv while in office.
The outgoing Prime Minister met Volodymyr Zelensky in the Ukrainian capital on Thursday just hours after a series of Russian strikes that killed two and injured six, including a teenager.
He also used the trip to pledge 300 million euros (£255 million) to help fund fighter jets to strengthen Ukraine’s air defences while supporting some 5,000 jobs in the UK.
Sir Keir’s visit comes on his final full day as Labour leader. Andy Burnham will take over the party leadership at a special conference in London on Friday before entering Downing Street on Monday.
That handover of power would not change the relationship between the two nations, Sir Keir said at a press conference at Mr Zelensky’s official ceremonial residence.
He said: “The fact that there will be a new prime minister in the United Kingdom, in the days to come, doesn’t change that dynamic at all.
“The resolve of the United Kingdom remains the same, it will not waver.”
He added: “I say that with real confidence because it has not wavered since the outbreak of this conflict,” and noted there had been intra- and cross-party unity on the issue and the “Ukrainian flag still flies above Downing Street”.
There was huge resolve across politics and among the public, as the conflict touched people’s lives in Britain, through rising costs and state-backed Russian aggression at home, Sir Keir said.
Asked whether he was disappointed that he would not see an end to the conflict before leaving No 10, Sir Keir told reporters: “This isn’t about me, it’s about a country, Ukraine, that has faced an aggressor for now in the fifth year.”
As the press conference got under way, Sir Keir looked touched as the Ukrainian leader surprised him with an Order of Freedom honour, the highest award for a foreign national and only ever given to 30 others, saying: “It really means a huge amount.”
Sir Keir also announced the 300 million-euro funding to help deliver a squadron of 16 advanced Swedish Gripen jets to Ukraine by 2029.
The Government said the programme would support around 5,000 jobs across more than 50 UK companies involved in the global Gripen supply chain, including Saab UK in Fareham and Leonardo UK in Edinburgh.
The Gripen aircraft can be used for air-to-air combat, ground strikes and reconnaissance missions, and ministers said they would help modernise Ukraine’s air force and boost its capability to defend against Moscow’s unrelenting aerial attacks.
The two leaders “agreed that the increase in attacks on Kyiv in recent weeks was despicable,” according to a Downing Street read-out of their bilateral meeting, in which Sir Keir reiterated he was “certain” UK support for Ukraine would continue.
Mr Zelensky, asked how five prime ministers since the war started has affected his relations with government, said that he had built “strong relations” with all of them.
He added that he hoped to build “new strong relations” with the next prime minister and that he wanted to have a meeting “as soon as possible”.
Earlier, after they visited Kyiv’s memorial wall, the Ukrainian president paid tribute to Sir Keir, thanking him and the UK “for their unwavering respect for our warriors” who had “made the ultimate sacrifice to defend Ukraine and all of Europe”.
Sir Keir has spent much of his final week in office focused on Ukraine, travelling to Paris on Monday for a meeting of the “coalition of the willing” at which he announced the UK would join the EU’s 90 billion euro (£78 billion) loan to Kyiv.
His time in office has been characterised by strong support for Ukraine, signing a 100-year partnership with the country and leading plans for a peacekeeping force to be deployed in the event of a ceasefire.
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