“Together we signed a historic agreement, the first of its kind, a new partnership between the UK and Ukraine which reflects the enormous affection between our two nations,” Mr Starmer told the media after the signing. in kyiv. “Today is a historic day and our relations between Ukraine and Great Britain are closer than ever,” welcomed President Volodymyr Zelensky. This document concerns in particular the strengthening of cooperation in defense and maritime security, but also “scientific and technological partnerships in areas such as health care and diseases, agro-technology, space and drones,” according to the text published by kyiv.
Explosions. Before the ceremony, an air siren followed by loud explosions rang out in the center of kyiv, while a drone flew over the government district, AFP journalists noted. Shortly before, the Ukrainian Air Force warned that a Russian “drone” was approaching the capital. “Our discussions took place to the sound of air defense operations here in kyiv,” hence “task number one – to increase cooperation so that the Ukrainian air defense shield, our army, our Ukrainian maritime forces, cybersecurity are sufficiently strong to resist” Russia, Mr. Zelensky said.
Keir Starmer, the Labor leader, arrived in kyiv in the morning, for the first time in Ukraine since his election in July and a few days before Donald Trump returns to the White House. Ukraine, whose army is exhausted and retreating on the front after nearly three years of Russian invasion, and its European allies fear a possible American disengagement, Donald Trump having declared several times that he wanted to put an end to this war quickly.
Western troops. The “main” objective is “to ensure that Ukraine is in the strongest possible position during the year 2025”, Mr. Starmer stressed to the British media, while visiting Ukrainian soldiers injured in a hospital. The two officials discussed the possibility of stationing Western troops in Ukraine to oversee a possible ceasefire deal, a proposal initially put forward by French President Emmanuel Macron.
“It is too early to discuss the details,” said Mr. Zelensky, according to whom such a contingent could only constitute “a segment of the security guarantees” for his country whose overall configuration could be determined after talks with the Donald Trump administration. “We do not envisage security guarantees for Ukraine without the United States,” the Ukrainian president stressed. “We have not yet had a substantive conversation on security guarantees with the new administration.”
Keir Starmer, for his part, promised to work with kyiv and allies to end the war and “guarantee the security of Ukraine, guarantee any possible peace and deter any future aggression”. Donald Trump, who is to be inaugurated on Monday January 20, affirmed that he was preparing a meeting with Vladimir Putin to “put an end” to the conflict in Ukraine. The Republican billionaire clearly displayed his skepticism about the billions in aid spent by Washington to support kyiv against Russia.
“Bold diplomacy”. During his hearing on Wednesday, Marco Rubio, Donald Trump’s secretary of state, called for “bold diplomacy” from the United States to end the war. Ukraine’s main problem, he said, is not that it is “running out of money, but rather that it is running out of Ukrainians.” The United Kingdom has been one of kyiv’s main military supporters since the start of the war. It notably supplies the Ukrainian army with Storm Shadow missiles, used by kyiv to strike military and energy targets on Russian soil, a red line for Moscow.
London has pledged 12.8 billion pounds (15.2 billion euros) in military and civilian aid to Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion, and has trained more than 50,000 Ukrainian soldiers on British soil , according to official figures. Mr Starmer’s visit to kyiv comes as the Ukrainian army has been in difficulty for several months in various sectors of the front, facing a larger and better armed Russian army. However, it announced Thursday that it had captured 27 Russian soldiers in the Russian region of Kursk, a small part of which it has occupied since a surprise offensive last summer.
Victoria LUKOVENKO et Mykola ZAVGORODNIY
© Agence France-Presse
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