On the occasion of President Zelenskyj’s visit to Great Britain, the British government announced further arms deliveries. In addition to anti-aircraft missiles, Ukraine should also get hundreds of drones.
Britain has pledged more arms supplies to Ukraine, including numerous anti-aircraft missiles and hundreds of combat drones. This was announced by the British government on the occasion of the visit of the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Great Britain.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak welcomed Selenskyj with a hug at the official country estate of Checkers near London. He compared him to the British Prime Minister during World War II, Winston Churchill: “In the same way, today your leadership and the courage and steadfastness of your country are an inspiration to us all.”
Zelenskyj wrote on the online platform Twitter that “significant negotiations” should be conducted personally and in delegations. It is Zelenskyy’s second visit to Britain since the Russian attack on Ukraine.
Longer range drones and missiles
Sunak said Ukraine’s resistance to Russia is currently at a “decisive moment”. “They need the sustained support of the international community to resist the barrage of relentless and indiscriminate attacks,” he said.
The new combat drones should have a range of up to 200 kilometers. Last week, the British government announced the delivery of “Storm Shadow” cruise missiles, which can fly up to 250 kilometers and thus significantly further than the missiles of previously delivered systems such as “HIMARS”. This would allow Ukraine to target previously unreachable areas, such as the occupied Crimean Peninsula. The internationally recognized territory of Russia, on the other hand, will not be attacked, Zelenskyy promised.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia sees the deliveries “extremely negatively”, but that the weapons could not significantly influence the course of the “military special operation”.
Next skepticism too fighter jet deliveries
Before his visit to the British Isles, Selenskyj had met Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin and French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. He had repeated that Ukraine was also dependent on Western fighter jets. However, Scholz and Macron remained cautious.
The British government has also not signaled its approval of the delivery of Western combat aircraft, but offers to train Ukrainian pilots. After their meeting, Sunak and Zelenskyy said they had discussed fighter jets and reiterated their intention to form a “fighter jet coalition” together. Zelenskyi held out the prospect of “important decisions”: “In the near future you will hear some, I think, very important decisions, but we still have to work on them a little”.