There is now no backing out of giving Ukraine the air power it needs to prevail

Any meeting of world leaders that begins with a hug instead of a handshake suggests a relationship that transcends the geopolitical stage.

There is no doubt that, like he did with Boris Johnson, President Volodymyr Zelensky has grown close to Rishi Sunak as another British bastion of Ukraine’s quest for freedom from its Russian aggressor.

When the two men met in London yesterday, there was an apt degree of military precision to the statecraft employed to once again nudge the West into better equipping Ukraine against Vladimir Putin’s army.

No sooner had Mr Zelensky used his historic speech in Westminster Hall to call for “powerful English planes”, than the Prime Minister had ordered the Ministry of Defence to “investigate” what fighter jets Britain may be able to send to Ukraine.

“The Prime Minister has tasked the Defence Secretary with investigating what jets we might be able to give but, to be clear, this is a long-term solution rather than a short-term capability, which is what Ukraine needs most now,” said a No10 spokesman.

Whether or not the British can actually supply planes – and which ones might be the most effective against Russia’s highly lethal network of ground-based surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems – remains a source of consternation.

But there was no doubting how carefully the sequence of manoeuvres had been choreographed.

Coming after Mr Sunak had pledged to train Ukrainian pilots on “Natostandard” aircraft, the offensive – like the UK’S intervention on tanks – was designed to outflank the reluctant Americans and Germans.

Only last month a spokesman for the Prime Minister said it was not “practical” to supply aircraft such as the Typhoon and F-35 because training the Ukrainians to use them would take around 35 months.

But, speaking before Mr Zelensky’s whistlestop visit, Mr Sunak had opened the door to the West finally providing air support by announcing an expansion in training “from soldiers to marines and fighter jet pilots, ensuring Ukraine has a military able to defend its interests well into the future”.

By agreeing to train Ukrainian pilots to fly something superior to the Soviet-era aircraft that are currently incapable of dropping the bombs needed to defeat the Russians, the UK has given allied neighbours less wiggle room to turn down the Ukrainian president’s repeated requests for more firepower.

In presenting Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons, with the helmet of one of Ukraine’s most successful pilots, the 45-year-old father of two, dressed in his trademark military fatigues, appeared to have been authorised to make a direct appeal to MPS, imploring them: “We have freedom, give us wings to protect it.”

Politically, Mr Sunak is caught in somewhat of a pincer movement – with Mr Zelensky leading the charge on the supply of “English planes” and Mr Johnson bringing up the rear by calling for the UK “to give the Ukrainians the extra equipment they

The offensive, like the UK’S intervention on tanks, was to outflank the reluctant Americans and Germans

Mr Sunak is now perfectly placed to use the war in eastern Europe to his own strategic advantage

need to defeat Putin and to restore peace to Ukraine”.

Having been name-checked by Mr Zelensky during his speech, Mr Johnson appeared intent on bouncing the Prime Minister into not only providing air support but also “longerrange missiles and artillery” and even “more tanks”.

Arguing that the UK should be supplying Typhoon jets to Ukraine, Mr Johnson added: “It is true that the Typhoon is a four-nation plane and that we require the approval of allies for export.

“But there is no reason to think that Germany or others should oppose our decision – these are UK planes.”

Yet Mr Sunak is now perfectly placed to use the war in eastern Europe to his own strategic advantage.

Mr Zelensky’s decision to visit the UK ahead of any EU country is already a major coup of post-brexit “global” Britain.

If Mr Sunak also manages to convince the West to “finish the job”, as his predecessor put it, then he will be the 21st-century Prime Minister drawing parallels with Winston Churchill.