Play Brightcove video
Departing UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has vowed the UK will continue to support Ukraine, as Andy Burnham prepares to take office. ITV News Correspondent John Ray reports
Sir Keir Starmer has said that “the UK’s support for Ukraine will not waver” on his final visit to the country as prime minister.
Starmer reassured Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, that he has confidence the UK support will remain as his successor, Andy Burnham, prepares to move into No 10.
He added: “It is really significant that it is now, in the fifth year of this conflict, the Ukrainian flag still flies above Downing Street. It still flies across churches and town halls across the country, and individual gardens. Because the British people understand what is being fought for here – freedom and democracy, values that we will never take for granted. We know that this fight is our fight.”
Starmer also said that the war “has not just changed Ukraine but has changed us all” and said it has been a “real privilege” to stand alongside Zelenskyy and he talked of his pride in the partnership built between the two countries, as well as the Coalition of the Willing, set out alongside France last year.
He said the UK’s support for Ukraine would “never change” and went on to promise a new €300 million (£254 million) package of support alongside Sweden, providing 16 new advanced aircraft to defend Ukraine’s skies.
The 16 Gripen E fighter jets will be delivered by 2029 and the funding also includes pilot and engineer training as well as other support to get the aircraft to the frontline of the war.
A Gripen jet, the model that will be sent to Ukraine as part of the new funding package. Credit: PA
Gripen jets are capable of air-to-air combat and can strike ground targets, helping Ukraine to build a modern air force against Russia.
Starmer said: “Today’s investment will help put advanced Gripen fighter jets in Ukrainian skies, strengthening their ability to defend their country while supporting thousands of skilled jobs here at home.“From British engineers to Ukrainian pilots, this is our partnership in action, building Ukraine’s long-term security, strengthening Britain’s defence industry, and showing Putin that we are not going anywhere”.
Subscribe for free to our weekly newsletter for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning.
The new investment is one of the final moves from Starmer before Burnham takes over on Monday.
When asked about the new prime minister, Zelenskyy said, “of course I am afraid of change” but was sure that the relationship with the UK will not change.
During the visit, Zelenskyy presented Starmer with the Order of Freedom honour, which is the highest award for a foreign person in Ukraine, and the PM said it was “unexpected but very very meaningful”.
He arrived in the capital on Thursday morning, just hours after overnight air strikes killed two people and injured five in the city, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.
The PM arrived in Kyiv, Ukraine on Thursday morning. Credit: POOL
Zelensky has thanked the outgoing PM for the UK’s “unwavering respect for our warriors” as he shared footage of them visiting the Wall of Remembrance in Kyiv.
Ukraine’s president wrote on social media: “I thank Keir and the United Kingdom for their unwavering respect for our warriors, for all those who made the ultimate sacrifice to defend Ukraine and all of Europe”.
Zelenskyy could also be facing a test of his political authority.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in downtown Kyiv on Thursday after Zelenskyy dismissed his popular defence minister. Ukraine’s parliament appointed a new prime minister as part of a major government reshuffle.
Outgoing defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov, 35, is considered to be a moderniser whose technological expertise is credited in part with a significant improvement in Ukraine’s military performance in recent months against Russia’s bigger army.
Protesters gathered in Kyiv on Thursday after a government reshuffle was announced. Credit: AP
Zelenskyy did not publicly give a reason for Fedorov’s anticipated exit, but unconfirmed reports said that the defence minister had a strained relationship with General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of Ukraine’s armed forces.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the death toll in a post on X:
Posting on Telegram, the city’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said one of those injured was a teenager.
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said 27 rescue vehicles and 150 rescue workers attended the site,
Subscribe for free to our weekly newsletter for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning.
The PM is spending his final days in office highlighting what he sees as his legacy, including support for Ukraine.
In his time in office, he signed a 100-year partnership between the UK and Ukraine to promote defence and trade ties with the country.
Earlier this week French President Emmanuel Macron awarded Starmer the Legion d’honneur for his support for Ukraine and European relations.
From Westminster to Washington DC – our political experts are across all the latest key talking points. Listen to the latest episode below…