Britain to speed up delivery of air defence equipment to Ukraine – Burnham at meeting with Zelenskyy
The United Kingdom will increase its air defence assistance to Ukraine and ensure rapid delivery, while also preparing new sanctions against Russia.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said this during a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in London, Censor.NET reports, citing Suspilne.
What Burnham promised
According to the British prime minister, the United Kingdom will provide Ukraine with more air defence equipment to counter Russian jet-powered drones and ensure it "arrives as quickly as possible". The government is also considering additional ways to support Ukraine and preparing a new package of sanctions against Russia.
Burnham stressed that Britain would continue to support Ukraine, including amid Russian attacks on critical infrastructure. He referred to the heavy bombardment of Kyiv over the past 24 hours and expressed condolences to Ukrainians who had lost loved ones.
"We know that the country has suffered heavy bombardment over the last twenty-four hours, particularly in Kyiv. And we would like to express our condolences to all those people in Ukraine who have lost loved ones because of what is happening. President Trump called for an energy truce over the weekend. And, Volodymyr, you showed your leadership by saying that you would be willing to sit down and discuss what that would look like, to make sure we protect people from the very harsh winter ahead in Ukraine. Unfortunately, what we have seen from Russia is further attacks on critical national infrastructure in Ukraine. It is once again clear to the world who the aggressor is in this conflict," the prime minister said.
Zelenskyy’s response
Zelenskyy thanked the British government and people for their support since the start of the full-scale war. He stressed that Russian attacks demonstrated continued escalation despite talk of a possible energy truce.
"Of course, this is not an energy truce. This looks like an outright continuation of escalation by Russia. We are ready for any truce. From the very beginning of the Russian occupation, we were ready to stop this war, sit down and talk, engage in any dialogue — it is better than attacks," he said.
- According to the president, Ukraine is ready for a truce and negotiations, but Russia continues to attack Ukrainian territory. Zelenskyy also said he intended to discuss difficulties concerning Starlink services and intelligence sharing with the British prime minister.
