U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is visiting Kyiv as the Russo-Ukraine war rages on.
He was greeted in Kyiv by Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s envoy to the U.K. and former commander in chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Starmer is set to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss several issues, including the potential deployment of the U.K. peacekeeping troops as part of the looming peace push.
The two countries are also slated to sign a 100-Year Partnership to deepen security and economic cooperation. It is poised to bolster military collaboration on maritime security through a new framework to strengthen Baltic Sea, Black Sea, and Azov Sea security and deter ongoing Russian aggression.
“The 100-Year Partnership is a major step in supporting Ukraine’s long-term security – ensuring they are never again vulnerable to the kind of brutality inflicted on it by Russia – and committing to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with a sovereign Ukraine for the next century,” the official site reads.
“Putin’s ambition to wrench Ukraine away from its closest partners has been 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.
This is Starmer’s first visit to Ukraine since he took office in July 2024.