In his first visit to Kyiv since taking office, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday, the official Twitter handle of the British prime minister posted.
Britain knows what it means to fight for freedom.
We are with you all the way @ZelenskyyUa 🇺🇦🇬🇧
Британія знає, що означає боротися за свободу.
Ми з вами до кінця @ZelenskyyUa 🇺🇦🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/HsL8s4Ibqa
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) November 19, 2022
According to a No. 10 spokesperson, the meeting was held to “confirm continued UK support” for Ukraine, BBC reported.
“We discussed the most important issues both for our countries and for global security,” Zelensky stated after the meeting on Telegram.
“We are stronger and we will achieve the desired results,” he added.
Sunak described his visit to Kyiv as “very humbling,” and vowed that the UK would continue to support Ukrainians in their battle, BBC reported.
During his meeting with Zelensky, he stated that the UK would offer a significant new air defence package to help safeguard Ukrainian civilians and national infrastructure against Russian strikes.
While in Kyiv, the UK prime minister laid flowers at a war memorial and lit a candle at a famine memorial before speaking with emergency workers at a fire station. Sunak also saw captured Iranian-made drones that had recently been deployed to target and bomb Ukrainian citizens, BBC reported.
In the aftermath of intensive Russian aircraft attacks on Kyiv and across the country in recent months, Ukraine has requested aid from Western nations.
“Since the beginning of the war, Ukraine and the United Kingdom have been the strongest of allies,” Zelensky wrote on Facebook, news agency AFP reported.
#UPDATE “Since the first days of the war, Ukraine and the UK have been the strongest of allies,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a Facebook post. pic.twitter.com/XV1JkulyxY
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) November 19, 2022
Earlier this week, Russia launched one of its most powerful missile attacks on Ukraine, only days after its troops were forced to retreat from Kherson. There were strikes across the country, from Lviv in the west to Chernihiv in the north, including Kyiv.
(With Inputs From Agencies)
