Ukraine expects to be on the top of United Kingdom government efforts

Glavcom.ua reports on Ukraine’s expectations with reference to the Ambassador of Ukraine to Britain Vadym Prystaiko.

The diplomat said that helping Ukraine is now one of Britain's top goals.

"I have no reason to doubt the new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, nor his short-lived predecessor, nor especially Boris Johnson, who has proven with his visits and his constant daily support that we are not just on the radar, Ukraine is on the very top of Britain's efforts. And as for the UK's foreign policy, it is certainly aimed at successfully ending this war, as the prime minister said,'' Prystaiko said.

The ambassador noted that this is confirmed by Sunak’s personnel appointments, since he has left the ministers of foreign affairs and defence in their positions, and these departments have been at the forefront of countering Russia and aiding Ukraine.

"Another factor is the appointment of a new minister for Ukrainian refugee affairs in Britain. The UK realises that the 130,000 people who have been forced to seek asylum here need support. The whole system of efforts is aimed at ensuring that we see our victory and at the same time save our people, give them the opportunity to live and develop, and their relatives to fight at the frontline," Prystaiko said.

The Ukrainian ambassador also said that Ukraine can expect arms supplies from the Kingdom to go on.

"As for weapons: unlike some countries that give us two or three old armoured personnel carriers and make noise about it in the press, Britain acts differently. They will brag somewhere later. Now is not the time for that. And apart from the weapons that Britain provides directly, one of its merits is the ability to coordinate, purchase, and deliver weapons from other countries for us. They have been doing a great job.The first four meetings of defence ministers, which took place even before Ramstein, were solely the initiative of the British side. They organised and conducted them. The U.S. is, of course, the biggest arms supplier, but Britain is undoubtedly in second place in terms of the number of weapons and financial support," the ambassador added.

In addition, the Prime Minister of Great Britain plans to pay a visit to Ukraine. "Zelenskyy himself gave this invitation during the first conversation that Rishi Sunak had with the Ukrainian president, as he promised," Prystaiko continued.

Prystaiko reminded that when Sunak was still competing with Liz Truss, he emphasised: "I will visit Ukraine and will support it."

The ambassador also talked about the construction project of eight missile boats, which was agreed upon back in October 2020.

"Britain is ready to build these boats. The money for the manufacture was allocated under Boris Johnson's government. The package also included the construction of two naval ports in the Azov and Black Seas respectively. The first two such boats were to be produced in Great Britain, and others at our Mykolaiv and Kherson shipyards.This package also included missile armament for these boats. This is a wonderful project, which, unfortunately, was not completed before the war had started. It is clear that now is not the time to talk about the construction of 50-meter missile boats based on the P50-U project together with the Babcock company. This project will have to be postponed because of the war," he stated.

At the same time, the diplomat emphasised that Ukraine continues to cooperate with Britain in the military and naval aspects. And Britain is training Ukrainian servicemen.

Regarding the issue of the creation of a Ukrainian-Polish-British alliance, which was discussed even before the start of the full-scale invasion, Prystaiko answered: "We are working on this initiative. It is now increasingly shifting towards military and defence cooperation, because this is the first priority for us and the Poles right now. And Britain, the country most involved in this process, is an obvious partner and ally. Now we are defining what we want to achieve, what goal we set for this union."

Prystayko also commented on the possibility of creating an alliance between the United States, Great Britain and Ukraine following the AUKUS model.

"You and I both understand that if Ukraine were a NATO member state, it would be a completely different conversation. Unfortunately, for many different reasons, we are yet to join NATO, so we are forced to create new agencies for ourselves. And you are absolutely right to note that it is on the example of AUKUS that we are now building our relations with Britain and Poland," said the diplomat, adding that we are making progress in this direction, but Ukraine conducts parallel negotiations, which will be made public in the near future. In addition, "there are very promising proposals” on how to ensure Ukraine's security without formal membership in NATO.