UK, Ukraine sign 100 year agreement

SBS Australia

7 hours ago

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has met with Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London and visited British troops training Ukrainian forces as part of Operation Interflex. During their meeting, the British Prime Minister reaffirmed the UK's military and financial support for Ukraine. 'I'm really proud that we've been able to do that throughout the conflict and will continue to do so, for the rest of the conflict into hopefully a ceasefire with Ukraine in the strongest possible position. And of course, when I was in Ukraine, I think the time before last, we signed the 100 year agreement between our two countries. So it is really good to be able to fly those flags as a symbol of the unity between our two countries." He also referenced the recent UK–Ukraine 100-year agreement signed in Kyiv earlier this year, calling it a symbol of long-term unity. President Zelenskyy thanked the UK for its support since the beginning of the war. "We are very thankful to the UK, all your team and people of the United Kingdom for such big support of Ukraine from the very beginning of this war. ... This is a very historic moment. It was the good result of today, our meeting, this additional decision of co-production. And I think it will be very strong and it will strengthen both nations. ... Thank you. Slava Ukraine." Before his meeting in Downing Street, Mr Zelenskyy was received by King Charles at Windsor Castle. While Mr Zelenskyy was in London, Russian forces launched one of the largest aerial attacks on Ukraine in weeks. At least 14 people were killed and dozens injured in overnight strikes, with nine deaths reported in Kyiv. A residential building partially collapsed after being hit by a missile. Resident Ludmyla Dubyna described the moment of the blast. "So we heard the air alert siren, then there was a response. We came to the room, lay down and then it hit right here - boom. And we went down to the shelter here. It was all burning. There were already a lot of people around, first responders and such. That's the way it went down. Then we came home, and our windows and doors were blown out." Emergency crews recovered the bodies of several victims, including a young girl and her mother. The State Emergency Service said search operations were ongoing. Svitlana Vodolaha is the SES' spokesperson. "An emergency search operation is currently underway. At the moment, we have found nine bodies, of which one is a child. It was the ninth body, it was a girl, whose relatives were looking for her. That's where the screams are coming from - it is there that the identification process is taking place, and it is the relatives who have identified the body of this child and the body of her mother." Ukraine's air force says Russia launched more than 350 drones and over a dozen ballistic and cruise missiles overnight. Most were intercepted, but several struck civilian targets. In the southern Odesa region, a missile destroyed a school building, killing two staff members. No students were present at the time. President Zelenskyy called the attack absolutely insane. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha is calling for further sanctions on Russia. "It is a proper time to engage all diplomatic instruments to raise the price for further Russian aggression, to impose sanctions. That is why it is so important that today I am here, ahead of us important international events, NATO summit, EU summit. We are also working hard together with Council of Europe to speed up the process of establishing special tribunal. So once again, it is a proper time to use all diplomatic instruments to force Russia to peace." This comes as the NATO summit is set to open next week in The Hague, where President Trump is expected to pressure allies to increase defence spending to five per cent of G-D-P. Many countries currently spend around two per cent. Speaking ahead of the summit, President Trump claimed the US had carried most of NATO's financial burden. REPORTER: "Is it still your expectation that NATO countries spend 5% of their GDP on defence spending?" TRUMP: "Well, I think they should do that. I don't think we should, but I think they should. We've been spending, we've been supporting NATO so long, in many cases, I believe, paying almost 100% the cost. So, I don't think we should but the NATO countries should, absolutely." NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has confirmed European and Canadian allies have increased their commitments to Ukraine. "Our support for Ukraine is unwavering and will persist. And we have - I can announce that now - new estimates showing that our European and Canadian allies have stepped up and have already pledged. Where we originally would be able to announce 20 billion over the first three months of this year, it is now... they will provide over 35 billion euros of additional security assistance to Ukraine for the year ahead." Mr Rutte is concerned that Russia is building-up to attack Europe. "There's widespread agreement within NATO that at this moment, today, if Russia would attack us, our reaction would be devastating, and the Russians know this. But there is great worry in many circles of NATO, we have heard the chief of defence in Germany a couple of weeks ago and many other senior military leaders speaking about it and also senior intelligence community people speaking about it, that between three, five, seven years from now, Russia will be able to successfully attack us if we do not start investing more today."