Britain’s Starmer arrives in Ukraine for security talks with pledge of ‘100-year partnership’

kyiv, Ukraine (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Ukraine’s capital Thursday with a pledge to help keep the country safe for a century, days before Donald Trump is sworn in as president American.

The British government announced that Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would sign a “100-year partnership” treaty in kyiv covering areas such as defence, science, energy and trade.

Starmer’s unannounced visit is his first trip to Ukraine since he took office in July. He visited the country in 2023 while opposition leader and has spoken twice with Zelensky in London since becoming prime minister.

On a gray and frosty morning, Starmer was greeted at kyiv train station by the UK’s ambassador to Ukraine, Martin Harris, and Ukraine’s envoy to London, Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

The United Kingdom, one of Ukraine’s biggest military backers, has pledged 12.8 billion pounds ($16 billion) in military and civilian aid since Russia’s full-scale invasion there is three years old, and has trained more than 50,000 Ukrainian soldiers on British soil. Starmer to announce an additional £40 million ($49 million) for Ukraine’s post-war economic recovery.

But the UK’s role is dwarfed by that of the US, and there is deep uncertainty over the fate of US support for Ukraine once Trump takes office on January 20. The president-elect has balked at the cost of U.S. aid to kyiv, says he wants a quick end to the war and plans to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, for whom he has long expressed admiration.

kyiv’s allies rushed to flood Ukraine with as much support as possible ahead of Trump’s inauguration, aiming to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position for any future negotiations aimed at ending to war.

Zelensky said that in any peace negotiations, Ukraine would need assurances of its future protection from its much larger neighbor.

Britain says its 100-year commitment is part of that assurance and will help ensure Ukraine is “never again vulnerable to the type of brutality inflicted on it by Russia”, which seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and attempted a full-scale invasion in February. 2022.

The agreement commits the two sides to cooperate on defense – notably on maritime security against Russian activities in the Batlic Sea, the Black Sea and the Sea of ​​Azov – and on technological projects, notably drones, which have become vital weapons for both sides in the war. The treaty also includes a system for tracking stolen Ukrainian grain exported by Russia from occupied regions of the country.

“Putin’s ambition to wrest Ukraine from its closest partners has proven to be a monumental strategic failure. Instead, we are closer than ever, and this partnership will take that friendship to the next level,” Starmer said ahead of the visit.

“It is not just about the here and now, it is also about investing in our two countries for the next century, bringing together technological development, scientific advancement and cultural exchange, and harnessing the he phenomenal innovation that Ukraine has demonstrated in recent years for generations. come. »

Zelenskyy said he and Starmer would also discuss a plan proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron under which troops from France and other Western countries would be stationed in Ukraine to oversee a ceasefire deal.

Zelenskyy said such a proposal should be accompanied by a timetable for Ukraine’s NATO membership. The 32 member countries of the alliance affirm that Ukraine will one day joinbut not before the war. Trump appears to sympathize with Putin’s position that Ukraine should not be part of NATO.

As the bitter war nears the three-year mark, Russia and Ukraine are racing to secure gains on the battlefield before possible peace talks. Ukraine has launched a second offensive in Russia’s Kursk region, where it is struggling to hold on to some of the territory it conquered last year, and has stepped up drone and missile attacks on weapons sites and targets. fuel depots in Russia.

Moscow is slowly taking territory at the cost of heavy losses along the 600-mile (1,000-kilometer) front line in eastern Ukraine and launching intense barrages on Ukraine’s front lines. energy systemseeking to deprive Ukrainians of heat and light in the middle of winter. A major Russian ballistic and cruise missile attack on parts of Ukraine on Wednesday forced authorities to shut down the power grid in some areas.