UK signs 100-year agreement with Ukraine

Kyiv: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has signed a 100-year partnership agreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, part of a European show of support and promises to keep helping Ukraine endure in its nearly three-year war with Russia.

The announcement comes days before Donald Trump is sworn in as US president, with what he says is a plan to end Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer, left, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky smile as they stand in front one of the drones, built in Ukraine with funding from Britain, in Kyiv on Thursday.Credit: AP

“We are with you, not just today or tomorrow, for this year or the next, but for 100 years – long after this terrible war is over and Ukraine is free and thriving once again,” Starmer told Zelensky during a visit to Kyiv, promising that the UK would “play our part” in guaranteeing Ukraine’s post-war security.

Starmer said that the landmark agreement committed the two sides to co-operate on defence – especially maritime security against Russian activity in the Baltic Sea, Black Sea and Sea of Azov – and on technology projects including drones, which have become vital weapons for both sides in the war. The treaty also includes a system to help track stolen Ukrainian grain exported by Russia from occupied parts of the country and provides £40 million ($79 million) for Ukraine’s economic recovery.

It will also cover areas such as energy, critical minerals and green steel production, Starmer’s office said.

“Putin’s ambition to wrench Ukraine away from its closest partners has been a monumental strategic failure,” Starmer said in a statement. “Instead, we are closer than ever, and this partnership will take that friendship to the next level.”

Ukraine’s alignment with the West, and potential future membership of NATO, have angered Russian President Vladimir Putin, who still wants to exert influence over the independent nation.

Starmer and Zelensky’s meeting was punctuated by the sound of a loud explosion from Ukraine’s air defences shooting down a Russian drone above the presidential palace. Debris fell in at least four districts of Kyiv, according to city administration chief Tymur Tkachenko, including close to the Baroque palace.

Starmer said the drones were “a reminder” of what the Ukrainian people were up against – and their resolve.

His unannounced visit is his first to Ukraine since he took office in July, though he said that it was his seventh meeting with Zelensky.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, centre, inspects a damaged vehicle on a Kyiv street ahead of talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.Credit: AP

Italy’s defence chief was also in Kyiv, two days after Germany’s defence minister visited and three days after Zelensky talked on the phone with French President Emmanuel Macron.

The flurry of diplomatic activity comes before Trump’s inauguration on Monday (Tuesday AEDT), which is expected to bring a departure from the outgoing US administration’s pledge to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes to defeat Russia. Trump has also indicated that he wants Europe to shoulder more of the burden for helping Ukraine.

Kyiv’s allies have rushed to flood Ukraine with support, to put it in the strongest position possible before Trump moves back into the White House, and for any future negotiations to end the war that began on February 24, 2022.

Ukrainians worry that Trump’s reported peace plan will demand unpalatable concessions, such as giving up territory. Zelensky has also said that he wants security guarantees to deter Russia from invading again in the future.

Starmer and Zelensky attend a presentation of Ukrainian military drones in Kyiv.Credit: AP

“We must look at how this war could end, the practical ways to get a just and lasting peace … that guarantees your security, your independence and your right to choose your own future,” Starmer said at a joint news conference.

Zelensky said the two leaders had discussed an idea floated by Macron for Western troops to monitor a future ceasefire, but said that it was “a bit too early to talk about details”.

Starmer left the door open to UK participation, telling Zelensky “we will work with you and all of our allies on steps that would be robust enough to guarantee Ukraine’s security”.

“Those conversations will continue for many months ahead,” Starmer said.

Zelensky has previously discussed a potential peacekeeping force with Baltic countries, France and Poland. But he said that it could only be part of the security solution and noted that “we do not consider security guarantees without the United States”.

Starmer agreed that Washington’s role in Ukraine was “vital”. The US is the biggest provider of military support and advanced weaponry to the country.

“We will continue to work with the US on this,” he said.

Starmer said that in 2025, the UK would give Ukraine “more military support than ever before”. He said it has already committed £3 billion for military aid this year, including 150 more artillery barrels and a UK-designed mobile air defence system named Gravehawk. The UK has pledged £12.8 billion in military and civilian aid since the war broke out.

During the day-long visit, Starmer and Zelensky laid flowers at a wall of remembrance for those killed in the war. The wall outside St Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery, a Kyiv landmark, is covered in photos of the slain, stretching for a city block. It has become a place of pilgrimage for families paying tribute to their lost loved ones.

Starmer also visited a Kyiv hospital specialising in burns treatment, and an exhibition of drone technology.

As the grinding war nears the three-year mark, both Russia and Ukraine are pushing for battlefield gains before possible peace talks. Ukraine has started a second offensive in Russia’s Kursk region, where it is struggling to hang onto a chunk of territory it captured last year, and has stepped up drone and missile attacks on weapons sites and fuel depots inside Russia.

Moscow is slowly taking territory at the cost of high casualties along the 1000-kilometre frontline in eastern Ukraine, and launching intense barrages at its energy system, seeking to deprive Ukrainians of heat and light in the depths of winter. A major Russian ballistic and cruise missile attack on regions across Ukraine on Wednesday compelled authorities to shut down the power grid in some areas.

AP

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.