UK And Ukraine Agree To Deepen Ties As Zelensky Meets Starmer
Seeking to shore up support more than three years into Russia's invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer during a surprise visit to London on Monday, cementing a military co-production deal.
Zelensky met with Starmer at his Downing Street home, after earlier visiting King Charles III at Windsor Castle.
The trip comes on the eve of a NATO summit in The Hague, which Zelensky is due to attend.
Addressing Ukrainian military personnel undergoing training in the UK, Starmer said the pair had had "an excellent bilateral meeting" and agreed an "industrial military co-production agreement", which he called "a massive step forward in the contribution that we can continue to make".
Zelensky, speaking beside Starmer, insisted the deal "will be very strong and will transform both nations", although no details were released.
After the meeting, Starmer said it was "really a privilege, a pleasure" to welcome Zelensky, calling him "a regular now at Downing Street".
Starmer told the Ukrainian troops it was "really humbling" to see their "level of professionalism, commitment and bravery".
More than 50,000 troops have now been trained as part of the international partnership.
Zelensky said the scheme had helped "strengthen our army" and enabled Ukraine to "survive and fight".
The UK has been one of Ukraine's staunchest supporters since Russia invaded in early 2022, levelling rounds of sanctions against Moscow and supplying multiple packages of military aid.
Starmer promised the support would continue "for the rest of the conflict" and help put Ukraine in "the strongest possible position" to negotiate a ceasefire.
Zelensky said his country was "very thankful to the UK... for such big support of Ukraine from the very beginning of this war".
The Ukrainian leader earlier travelled to Windsor Castle, where he "visited The King... and remained to luncheon", Buckingham Palace said.
Zelensky is expected at the NATO summit in The Hague on Tuesday and Wednesday, where Ukraine's allies will work "to ensure that Ukraine is in the best possible position as we go into the next stage of this conflict", according to Starmer.
NATO allies are poised to take a "quantum leap" by hiking defence spending to counter the threat of Russia, Secretary General Mark Rutte said on the eve of the two-day summit.
The alliance's 32 members will pledge to boost defence expenditure to five percent of gross domestic product, a key demand of President Donald Trump, who has long grumbled that the US pays too much for NATO.
NATO's members have thrashed out a compromise deal to dedicate at least 3.5 percent of GDP to core military needs by 2035, and 1.5 percent to broader security-related items like cyber-security and infrastructure.
"The defence investment plan that allies will agree in The Hague introduces a new baseline, five percent of GDP to be invested in defence," Rutte told reporters at a pre-summit news conference.
"This is a quantum leap that is ambitious, historic and fundamental to securing our future."
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Int'l Business Times
6 hours ago
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UK And Ukraine Agree To Deepen Ties As Zelensky Meets Starmer
Seeking to shore up support more than three years into Russia's invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer during a surprise visit to London on Monday, cementing a military co-production deal. Zelensky met with Starmer at his Downing Street home, after earlier visiting King Charles III at Windsor Castle. The trip comes on the eve of a NATO summit in The Hague, which Zelensky is due to attend. Addressing Ukrainian military personnel undergoing training in the UK, Starmer said the pair had had "an excellent bilateral meeting" and agreed an "industrial military co-production agreement", which he called "a massive step forward in the contribution that we can continue to make". Zelensky, speaking beside Starmer, insisted the deal "will be very strong and will transform both nations", although no details were released. After the meeting, Starmer said it was "really a privilege, a pleasure" to welcome Zelensky, calling him "a regular now at Downing Street". Starmer told the Ukrainian troops it was "really humbling" to see their "level of professionalism, commitment and bravery". More than 50,000 troops have now been trained as part of the international partnership. Zelensky said the scheme had helped "strengthen our army" and enabled Ukraine to "survive and fight". The UK has been one of Ukraine's staunchest supporters since Russia invaded in early 2022, levelling rounds of sanctions against Moscow and supplying multiple packages of military aid. Starmer promised the support would continue "for the rest of the conflict" and help put Ukraine in "the strongest possible position" to negotiate a ceasefire. Zelensky said his country was "very thankful to the UK... for such big support of Ukraine from the very beginning of this war". The Ukrainian leader earlier travelled to Windsor Castle, where he "visited The King... and remained to luncheon", Buckingham Palace said. Zelensky is expected at the NATO summit in The Hague on Tuesday and Wednesday, where Ukraine's allies will work "to ensure that Ukraine is in the best possible position as we go into the next stage of this conflict", according to Starmer. NATO allies are poised to take a "quantum leap" by hiking defence spending to counter the threat of Russia, Secretary General Mark Rutte said on the eve of the two-day summit. The alliance's 32 members will pledge to boost defence expenditure to five percent of gross domestic product, a key demand of President Donald Trump, who has long grumbled that the US pays too much for NATO. NATO's members have thrashed out a compromise deal to dedicate at least 3.5 percent of GDP to core military needs by 2035, and 1.5 percent to broader security-related items like cyber-security and infrastructure. "The defence investment plan that allies will agree in The Hague introduces a new baseline, five percent of GDP to be invested in defence," Rutte told reporters at a pre-summit news conference. "This is a quantum leap that is ambitious, historic and fundamental to securing our future."
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Int'l Business Times
8 hours ago
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NATO To Take 'Quantum Leap' With 5% Summit Pledge: Rutte
NATO allies are poised to take a "quantum leap" by hiking defence spending to counter the threat of Russia, Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Monday, on the eve of a two-day summit. The 32 members of the alliance will pledge to boost defence expenditure to five percent of gross domestic product, a key demand of President Donald Trump, who has long grumbled that the US pays too much for NATO. NATO's members have thrashed out a compromise deal to dedicate at least 3.5 percent of GDP to core military needs by 2035, and 1.5 percent to broader security-related items like cybersecurity and infrastructure. "The defence investment plan that allies will agree in The Hague introduces a new baseline, five percent of GDP to be invested in defence," Rutte told reporters at a pre-summit news conference. "This is a quantum leap that is ambitious, historic and fundamental to securing our future." The focus at the summit in the Hague will be on keeping Trump happy after his return to power sparked fears he could blow a hole in the seven-decade-old alliance. In the run-up to the meeting, Spain had sparked fears of undermining a carefully choreographed unity by refusing to commit to the headline figure of five percent. But Rutte stressed that Spain had not been granted an "opt-out" from the pledge. "NATO does not have as an alliance opt-outs, side deals, etcetera, because we all have to chip in," Rutte said. The NATO chief said that the increase in spending would see the alliance boost its air defences five-fold and add thousands more tanks and armoured vehicles to its arsenals. "Our focus is ensuring that we have all we need to deter and defend against any threat," he said. "Of course, the most significant and direct threat facing this alliance remains the Russian Federation." Rutte insisted that the summit would also send a strong signal of support to Ukraine -- despite Trump upending the West's stance towards Russia's war on Kyiv. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky will attend a state dinner with the Dutch king but he has largely been sidelined from the summit's main event. Rutte said that Europe was stepping up already to fill the gap left by Washington pulling back from supporting Ukraine. He said that Europe and Canada had already pledged 35 billion euros ($40 billion) to help arm Kyiv so far this year. Dismissing the idea that the fresh conflict between Israel and Iran could deflect attention from the summit, Rutte stressed that Tehran should not be permitted to possess a nuclear weapon. He said his "greatest fear" was that Iran would secure access to a nuclear bomb, giving it a "stranglehold" over Israel, the region, and the wider world. Over the weekend, Trump said that US warplanes had used "bunker buster" bombs that had "obliterated" Iran's nuclear capabilities. Other officials said it was too soon to assess the true impact on Iran's nuclear programme, which Israel and some Western states consider an existential threat. Pressed over the legality of Washington's strikes against Iran, the NATO chief replied: "I would not agree that this is against international law, what the US did."
