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LONDON (AP) – The British prime minister promised on Monday to provide Ukraine with strike drones and hundreds of more missiles as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visits Britain. To strengthen support in advance of counterattacks against Russian forces.
Prime Minister Rishi Snak greeted President Zelensky with a handshake and a hug after he landed by helicopter in Chekars, the official retreat of the British leader. It will be Mr Zelensky’s second visit to the UK since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
President Zelensky thanked Britain for its support so far and said the war “is an important security issue not only for Ukraine but for Europe as a whole”.
“Your leadership, your country’s courage and your fortitude inspire us all,” Sunak told Zelensky.
It will be the fifth European country Zelensky has visited in the past three days, after Italy, the Vatican, Germany and France. As Ukraine prepares for a long-awaited spring offensive to retake territories occupied by Russia, he is asking for more help.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that the Kremlin took “extremely negatively” London’s promise to supply Ukraine with additional weapons, but at the same time believed the supply would not dramatically change the course of the war. said.
“The UK wants to be at the forefront of countries that continue to send weapons to Ukraine,” Mr Peskov said. “I repeat once again, it is not possible to have a drastic and fundamental impact on the deployment of special military operations (in Ukraine). But undoubtedly it will lead to further destruction, further actions. It complicates this whole Ukraine story.”
Mr Sunak responded by promising long-term British aid to Ukraine.
Britain has become one of Ukraine’s main military allies, sending Kiev short-range missiles and Challenger tanks, and training 15,000 Ukrainian troops on the British mainland.Britain announced last week It sent Storm Shadow cruise missiles with a range of more than 250 kilometers (150 miles) to Ukraine, in what is known to be the first shipment of weapons Kiev has long sought from its allies.
Sunak’s office also said it had given Ukraine hundreds more air defense missiles and “long-range strike drones” with a range of more than 200 kilometers (120 miles).
“This is a pivotal moment in Ukraine’s resistance to a terrible war of aggression that it neither chose nor provoked,” Sunak said. “Protecting them from the barrage of relentless and indiscriminate attacks that has been their daily reality for more than a year requires the continued support of the international community.
“Don’t let them down.”
Zelensky said one of his tasks during the visit was to build a “fighter coalition” that would provide vital air defense for Ukraine. He said more work is needed on this front.
Britain will not provide the aircraft, but the prime minister said it would be an important part of the coalition and would start training Ukrainian fighter pilots as early as this summer.
According to Downing Street, Mr Sunak will also urge allies to provide more support to Ukraine at the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Japan later this week.
As President Zelensky visited European capitals, Russia stepped up its strikes across Ukraine with drones and missiles. On Sunday, Russia shelled two communities in the Sumy northern border region, a regional official said on Telegram. 109 explosions were recorded.
The Zelensky president’s office said on Monday that nine civilians were killed and 19 wounded in the past day in the shelling. Six of the deaths occurred in the Kherson region. Two civilians were killed in Chukhib, Kharkiv province, and one in Primorsk, on the Azov coast, about 12 miles (20 km) from Russian-occupied Berdyansk.
The president’s office also reported that Markhanets, across the river from the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, was hit by artillery fire.
Mr Zelensky was in Britain following an unannounced visit to Paris on Sunday night, where he met with French President Emmanuel Macron..
Macron’s office said France would supply dozens of light tanks, armored vehicles and more air defense systems “in the coming weeks”, but did not give specific numbers.
About 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers will be trained in France this year, with about 4,000 in Poland, according to Macron’s office, as part of a broader European effort.
France sent a plane to pick up Mr Zelensky in Germany, where he met with Chancellor Olaf Scholz. early sunday.
His visit to Berlin, his first since the start of the invasion, came a day after Germany announced new military aid to Ukraine worth more than €2.7 billion ($3 billion).
Germany overcame initial hesitation and decided to become one of Ukraine’s largest arms suppliers, including the Leopard 1 and 2 tanks and the sophisticated IRIS-T SLM air defense system. The latest Western equipment is believed to be essential if Ukraine is to succeed in its planned counterattack.
On Saturday, President Zelensky met with Pope Francis in the Vatican and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome.
During a tour of Europe, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine would seek to liberate Russian-occupied territories within its internationally recognized borders and would not attack Russian territory.
Areas still occupied by Russia include the Crimea peninsula and parts of eastern Ukraine, which are predominantly Russian-speaking.
The Washington Post reports that US intelligence leaks suggest that President Zelensky was considering occupying areas within Russia so that he could use them as bargaining chips in peace talks to end the war Russia started. Cited an unpublished document from the mountain of
This would put him at odds with Western governments, who have insisted that the weapons they provide should not be used to attack targets inside Russia.
“We don’t have the time or the strength (to attack Russia),” Zelensky said when asked about the reports, according to an official interpreter. “And we don’t have the weapons to do this.
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Follow AP coverage of the Ukraine war: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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