Britain's Starmer in Kiev for security talks, pledging 100-year partnership with Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in the Ukrainian capital on Thursday with a pledge to ensure the country's security for 100 years, days ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's inauguration.

The British government said Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would sign a 100-year partnership treaty in Kiev, covering areas including defence, science, energy and trade.

Starmus' unannounced visit is his first to Ukraine since he took office in July. He visited the country in 2023 when he was opposition leader, and held two meetings with Zelenskyy in London after becoming prime minister. Next month marks the third anniversary of the war.

The Italian defense minister also visited Kiev on Thursday, two days after the German defense minister's visit and three days after Zelenskiy's phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron.

There is a flurry of diplomatic activity ahead of President Trump's inauguration next Monday, which is expected to mark a departure from the outgoing US administration's pledge to stand with Ukraine as long as necessary to defeat Russia. President Trump also said he wanted Europe to shoulder more of the burden to help Ukraine.

On a gray and frosty morning, Starmer was welcomed at Kiev train station by Martin Harris, Britain's ambassador to Ukraine, and Ukraine's envoy to London, Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

This conflict is far from over, Starmer said. We must not give up.

Britain, one of Ukraine's biggest military backers, has pledged 12.8 billion pounds ($16 billion) in military and civilian support and trained more than 50,000 Ukrainian troops on British soil since Russia's full-scale invasion three years ago. Starmer is expected to announce an additional 40 million pounds ($49 million) for Ukraine's post-war economic recovery.

But the UK's role is small compared to that of the US, and there is deep uncertainty about the fate of US support for Ukraine once President Trump takes office on January 20. He said he wanted to end the war quickly and planned to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he had long admired.

Kiev's allies poured as much aid as possible into Ukraine before Trump took office, hoping to put the country in the strongest possible position in future negotiations to end the war.

Zelensky said that in peace talks, Ukraine would need assurances that its future would be protected from its much larger neighbor.

Britain said the 100-year pledge was part of that guarantee and would help ensure Ukraine was never again vulnerable to atrocities inflicted by Russia, which seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and attempted a full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The agreement commits both sides to cooperate on national defense, particularly maritime security against Russian activities in the Baltic Sea, Black Sea and Sea of ​​Azov, and technology projects including drones, which have become essential weapons for both sides in the war. The treaty also includes a system to help Russia track stolen Ukrainian grain exported from occupied territories.

Putin's ambition to alienate Ukraine from its closest partners was a monumental strategic failure. Instead, we are closer than ever and this partnership will allow us to take that friendship to the next level, Starmer said ahead of his visit.

This is not just about the here and now, but about investing in both countries for the next century, combining technological development, scientific advancement, cultural exchange and leveraging the phenomenal innovation that Ukraine has demonstrated in recent years. come.

Zelensky said he and Starmer would also discuss a plan proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron. That means troops from France and other Western countries will be stationed in Ukraine to oversee the ceasefire agreement.

Zelensky said such proposals should be in line with Ukraine's timetable for NATO accession. The 32-member alliance said Ukraine would join at some point, but only after the war ends. President Trump seemed to agree with President Putin's position that Ukraine should not join NATO.

As the bitter war approaches three years, Russia and Ukraine are trying to make gains on the battlefield ahead of peace talks. Ukraine has launched a second offensive in Russia's Kursk region, where it is struggling to defend territory it captured last year, and has stepped up drone and missile attacks on weapons bases and fuel depots inside Russia.

Moscow is slowly seizing territory along a 1,000km front in eastern Ukraine, inflicting heavy casualties, and is trying to deprive Ukrainians of heat and light in the dead of winter by launching an intense bombardment of Ukraine's energy system. A massive Russian ballistic and cruise missile attack across Ukraine on Wednesday prompted authorities to shut down power grids in some areas.

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