Ukrainian President Zelensky Visits UK, To Meet King Charles III, Address Parliament: Report

The Western countries have been considering how to step up support for Ukraine, with the country braced for a renewed Russian offensive later this month, as per reports.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ( Image Source :Twitter )

New Delhi: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet Britain’s King Charles III and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on his second overseas trip since Russian troops invaded his country nearly a year back, news agency AFP reported.

According to the report, the Ukrainian President arrived in United Kingdom on Wednesday.

Downing Street also announced that Zelensky will meet UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the military chiefs, and address the parliament.

Notably, this comes in the wake of British training of Ukrainian forces is expanded to cover fighter jet pilots and marines.

"The prime minister will offer to bolster the UK's training offer for Ukrainian troops, including expanding it to fighter jet pilots to ensure Ukraine can defend its skies well into the future," Sunak's office said.

The training would "ensure pilots are able to fly sophisticated NATO-standard fighter jets in the future", it added. Sunak will also "offer to begin an immediate training programme for marines", the Prime Minister’s Office added in its statement.

It is to be noted that the Western countries have been considering how to step up support for Ukraine, with the country braced for a renewed Russian offensive later this month, BBC reported.

Last week, PM Sunak's spokesman said that British military jets were "extremely sophisticated and take months to learn how to fly."

This is Zelensky’s second overseas trip since the the conflict between Russia and Ukriane. Earlier in December, Zelensky flew to the United States on his first foreign trip since Russia's invasion, where he appealed for long-term US support in Congress and held talks at the White House with President Joe Biden.

Zelensky subsequently stopped in Poland on his return home for talks with Polish President Andrzej Duda.

Meanwhile, Moscow on Tuesday said that the Russian troops were advancing towards Bakhmut and Vugledar, the two key centres of fighting in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, now the flashpoint of the conflict, AFP reported.