Supporting Ukraine, preventing Putin's barbarism from succeeding is in UK’s interest - Sunak

UK’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made the statement.

Prime Minister Sunak noted that this is a decisive moment in Ukraine's opposition to a terrible war of aggression. He added that Ukraine needs the continued support of the international community to defend itself against the barrage of relentless and indiscriminate attacks that have been a daily reality for more than a year.

"We must not let them down. The frontlines of Putin’s war of aggression may be in Ukraine but the fault lines stretch all over the world. It is in all our interest to ensure Ukraine succeeds and Putin’s barbarism is not rewarded," he said.

The UK Prime Minister added that this is why the country continues to provide support to Ukraine - from tanks to training, from ammunition to armored vehicles.

"And this message of solidarity will ring loud in all my meetings with fellow world leaders in the days ahead," Sunak said.

He also added that to this end, over the past year, the UK has trained 15,000 Ukrainian servicemen to combat readiness. In February, the Prime Minister announced that the UK would develop a new training program for Ukrainian pilots to support their efforts to build a new Ukrainian air force equipped with NATO-standard F16 aircraft.

"This summer we will commence an elementary flying phase for cohorts of Ukrainian pilots to learn basic training. This will adapt the programme used by UK pilots to provide Ukrainians with piloting skills they can apply a different kind of aircraft. This training goes hand in hand with UK efforts to work with other countries on providing F16 jets – Ukraine’s fighter jets of choice," the statement added.

In addition, next month the UK will reportedly host the Ukraine Recovery Conference, designed to stimulate international investment in support of Ukraine's recovery, promoting the development of new sectors in which the country flourished before Putin's full-scale invasion, such as clean energy and technology.

Earlier, President Zelenskyy announced the visit on Telegram.

"Today is London. The UK is a leader when it comes to expanding our capabilities on the ground and in the sky. Today, this cooperation will continue. I will meet with my friend Rishi. We will hold substantive talks one-on-one and in delegations," he wrote.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy also wrote about the meeting with Prime Minister Sunak on his Telegram channel.

"Glad to meet again with Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Rishi Sunak. We continue our work for Ukraine's victory," he said in the post.

• On Saturday, May 13, 2023, Zelenskyy met with the Italian leadership and Pope Francis. After visiting Rome and the Vatican, he traveled to Berlin.

• Volodymyr Zelenskyy devoted almost all of today, Sunday, May 14, to negotiations in the German capital.

• The main goal of his current European tour is to form a "fighter coalition," i.e., an association of Western countries capable of providing the Ukrainian Armed Forces with the modern fighter jets necessary for a counteroffensive.

• On May 14, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron met at the Elysee Palace.

• On May 15, Britain announced the supply of hundreds of attack drones to Ukraine, the Kremlin responded.