Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hold a news conference at the Presidential Palace in Kyiv on Friday. (Stefan Rousseau/AFP/Getty Images) KYIV — On a visit to Kyiv, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced Friday that the United Kingdom would provide Ukraine with more than $3 billion in additional military aid and signed bilateral security guarantees between London and Kyiv — the first such agreement on concrete security pledges, which Ukraine has sought as protection against further aggression by Russia. Speaking at a signing ceremony in Kyiv, Sunak said that “in the event of a future Russian attack,” London will provide “swift and sustained security assistance, military equipment across land, sea and air domains, economic assistance,” as well as “economic and other costs on Russia.” “It’s important that Russia sees that we are not moving away, that we will be with Ukraine, not just today, not just tomorrow, but for the long term,” Sunak said. Advertisement Given that Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed that his current attack on Ukraine will continue until his objectives are achieved, the agreement seemed largely intended as a message to the Kremlin that it should not expect British support for Ukraine to fade anytime soon. Britain is already one of Ukraine’s strongest supporters, but Sunak’s visit delivered a particularly uplifting message for Kyiv at a moment when Russia has stepped up its aerial bombardment campaign and when other, larger proposed aid packages from the United States and the European Union are stalled in Washington and Brussels. Russian strike kills 11, including children, Ukraine says Although the British assistance is relatively small compared with more than $60 billion sought by President Biden and, so far, blocked in Congress, Sunak’s announcement demonstrated his country’s commitment in the face of Russia’s continued […]
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