Prime Minister of Great Britain Rishi Sunak and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a historic agreement on cooperation in the field of security. Last year, at a summit in Vilnius, the G7 countries agreed to provide Ukraine with bilateral security commitments, and Great Britain was the first to sign such an agreement. This landmark agreement should be the first step towards the development of an unshakable partnership between Ukraine and Great Britain.
As Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated after signing the agreement, Great Britain’s security obligations under this document will apply until Ukraine joins NATO. “If such guarantees had been achieved in 1991, in particular, with Britain, the war would not have started,” he said. Rishi Sunak, for his part, emphasized that this is “the first of the security assurances signed by Ukraine” and added that Britain was the first to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons, tanks, long-range missiles, etc.
The website of the British government reports that the British-Ukrainian security cooperation agreement formalizes the entire range of support that the United Kingdom has provided and will continue to provide for the security of Ukraine. It includes intelligence sharing, cybersecurity, medical and military training, as well as cooperation in the defence-industrial complex.
In addition, Rishi Sunak confirmed that in 2024-2025, the United Kingdom will provide Ukraine with military support of £2.5 billion, which is £200 million more than in the previous two years. Of this, £200 million will go towards the purchase and production of thousands of military drones: reconnaissance, long-range attack drones and water drones.
It is said to be the largest delivery of drones by any country. Most of the drones are expected to be manufactured in the UK, and the Ministry of Defence will work with international partners to increase the number of drones that will be supplied to protect Ukraine.
“Great Britain is already one of Ukraine’s closest partners because we recognize that their security is our security,” said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. “Today we are going further – increasing our military aid, providing thousands of state-of-the-art drones and signing a new historic Security Agreement to provide Ukraine with the guarantees it needs for the long term.”
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