British Prime Minister Sunak makes surprise trip to Kyiv
KYIV, Ukraine — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised 125 anti-aircraft guns and other air-defense technology as he made an unannounced visit Saturday — his first — to Ukraine’s snow-blanketed war-time capital for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The air-defense package, which Britain valued at 50 million pounds ($60 million), comes as Russia has been pounding Ukraine’s power grid and other key infrastructure from the air, causing widespread blackouts for millions of Ukrainians amid frigid weather.
The package includes radar and other technology to counter that Iran-supplied exploding drones that Russia
has used against Ukrainian targets. It comes on top of a delivery of more than 1,000 anti-air missiles that Britain announced earlier this month.
The U.K. has been one of the staunchest Western backers of Ukraine’s resistance to Russia’s invasion. Speaking alongside Mr. Zelenskyy, Mr. Sunak noted that the U.K has given 2.3 billion pounds ($2.7 billion) in military aid and pledged: “We will do the same again next year.”
“Your homes, your hospitals, your power stations are being destroyed,” Mr. Sunak said in announcing the new air-defense package. “You and your people are paying a heavy price in blood.”
Speaking through a translator, Mr. Zelenskyy said Russian strikes have damaged
around half of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
As snowflakes fell, Mr. Zelenskyy greeted Mr.
Sunak at a presidential palace for their talks. He called the two countries “the strongest of allies.” Walking in the snow, they also inspected captured Russian tanks and other destroyed and rusting military hardware used by the invasion forces that are displayed in a Kyiv square.
“With friends like you by our side, we are confident in our victory. Both of our nations know what it means to stand up for freedom,” the Ukrainian leader said on Twitter.
Former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who stepped down in July amid ethics scandals, won wide praisein Ukraine for his backing and made repeated visits to Kyiv. Mr. Sunak is keen to reassure Ukraine’s leaders that there will be no change of stance under his leadership, although when he was U.K. Treasury chief under Mr. Johnson he was considered resistant to demands for higherdefense spending.
“The courage of the Ukrainian people is an inspiration to the world,” Mr. Sunak said. “In years to come, we will tell our grandchildren of your story.”
He pledged that Britain “will stand with you until Ukraine has won the peace and security it needs and deserves and then we will stand with you as you rebuild your great country.”
Mr. Sunak also laid flowers at a memorial for the war dead, lit a candle at a memorial for victims of a deadly Soviet-era famine in Ukraine in the 1930s, and met first responders at a fire station, his office said.
Mr. Sunak’s visit came in the wake of a major recent battlefield success for Ukraine: the recapture of the southern city of Kherson.