Zelenskyy Meets UK PM Rishi Sunak, Receives Pledge For 'Hundreds' Of Missiles, Drones

UK PM Rishi Sunak pledged "hundreds'' of both air-defence missiles and long-range attack drones to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

Source : Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday met UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who pledged "hundreds'' of both air-defence missiles and long-range attack drones to fend off Russia's invasion, reports AFP. Zelenskyy’s visit, which was confirmed by the UK government, comes after Britain announced last week that it would supply Ukraine with the long-range missiles it had requested to fight the Russian invasion.

Before his journey, Zelenskyy tweeted saying he would meet his "friend" Sunak to hold "substantive negotiations".

“Today – London. The UK is a leader when it comes to expanding our capabilities on the ground and in the air. This cooperation will continue today. I will meet my friend Rishi. We will conduct substantive negotiations face-to-face and in delegations,” tweeted Zelenskyy. 

Today – London. The UK is a leader when it comes to expanding our capabilities on the ground and in the air. This cooperation will continue today. I will meet my friend Rishi. We will conduct substantive negotiations face-to-face and in delegations.

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 15, 2023

As per a report by AFP, Sunak noted that the meeting was taking place in the buildup to a council of European leaders’ meeting in Iceland, which Zelenskyy will address through video, and the G7 Summit in Japan.

"This is a crucial moment in Ukraine's resistance to a terrible war of aggression they did not choose or provoke," the prime minister said in a statement.

"We must not let them down," he said.

"The frontlines of (President Vladimir) Putin's war of aggression may be in Ukraine but the fault lines stretch all over the world," he continued.

"It is in all our interest to ensure Ukraine succeeds and Putin's barbarism is not rewarded." 

Following the United States, Britain is the second-largest provider of military assistance to Ukraine and has added combat flight training to its programme of help, though not fighter jets.