PM ‘humbled’ to be in Kyiv with Zelensky

RISHI SUNAK yesterday visited to Ukraine to meet Volodymyr Zelensky, as he announced a new £50million air defence package to help counter Russian attacks.

The Prime Minister arrived in snowy Kyiv, saying he was “humbled” to be in the country for his first faceto-face meeting with the Ukrainian president.

A video posted by No10 showed the two leaders share a warm embrace outside the presidential palace before heading inside to meet senior Ukrainian officials and have a one-to-one.

As the pair shook hands, Mr Zelensky gestured to the falling snow and said: “You brought us weather,” to which Mr Sunak replied: “Well, there we go. I’ve brought my coat for later.”

Later, as the pair walked into the palace, Mr Sunak seemed to say that he and his wife, Akshata Murthy, “came here several years ago.”

Mr Sunak’s arrival was accompanied by the UK pledging a £50million package of defence aid, comprising 125 anti-aircraft guns and technology to help Ukraine counter Iranian-supplied drones, including radars and anti-drone technology.

His visit comes after a week in which tensions between the West and Russia ratcheted up, after a missile hit a Polish village close to the Ukrainian border, killing two people, leading to concerns that Russia had struck a Nato member state.

Tensions have eased since by the likely attribution of the hit to Ukrainian defence forces, but Russian missile strikes on the country have shown no sign of relenting.

In Kyiv, Mr Sunak laid flowers at a memorial for the war dead and lit a candle at a memorial for victims of the Holodomor famine, before meeting emergency personnel at a fire station.

He said it was “deeply humbling” to be in the country, and he said that he was “proud” of how the UK had backed Ukraine since the beginning of the war.

“I am here today to say the UK and our allies will continue to stand with Ukraine, as it fights to end this barbarous war and deliver a just peace,” he said.