Britain's Starmer holds security talks in Kiev, promising '100-year partnership' with Ukraine

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in the Ukrainian capital on Thursday, pledging to help secure the country for a century, days before Donald Trump was sworn in as U.S. president.

The British government said that Starmer and Ukrainian President Zelensky will sign a “100-year partnership” treaty in Kiev, covering defense, science, energy and trade.

Starmer's unannounced visit is his first to Ukraine since taking office in July. He visited the country in 2023 as opposition leader and has held talks with Zelensky twice in London since becoming prime minister. Next month the war will mark its third anniversary.

The Italian Defense Minister also visited Kiev on Thursday, two days after the German Defense Minister visited Kiev, and three days after Zelensky had a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Trump's inauguration next Monday comes amid a flurry of diplomatic activity that is expected to be a departure from the outgoing administration's pledge to stand with Ukraine as long as it defeats Russia. Trump also said he wanted Europe to shoulder more of the burden of helping Ukraine.

On a gray, cold morning, Starmer was greeted at a Kiev train station by Martin Harris, the British ambassador to Ukraine, and Valery Zaluzhny, the Ukrainian envoy in London.

“We are already in this conflict,” Starmer said. “We must not let up.”

Britain is one of Ukraine's biggest military backers, having pledged 12.8 billion pounds ($16 billion) in military and civilian aid and training more than 50,000 Ukrainians on British soil since Russia's full-scale invasion three years ago army. Starmer will announce another 40 million pounds ($49 million) for Ukraine's post-war economic recovery.

But Britain's role pales in comparison to that of the United States, whose fate of support for Ukraine is highly uncertain once Trump takes office on January 20. The president-elect is hesitant about U.S. aid to Kyiv. He said he hopes to end the war quickly and plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he has long expressed admiration for.

Kyiv's allies have rushed to offer Ukraine as much support as possible ahead of Trump's inauguration, with the aim of putting Ukraine in the best possible position in any future negotiations to end the war.

Zelensky said that in any peace talks, Ukraine needs assurances that its future is protected from its larger neighbor.

Britain said its 100-year commitment was part of the guarantee and would help ensure Ukraine “no longer remains vulnerable to the kind of atrocities inflicted by Russia”. Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and attempted a full-scale invasion in February. 2022.

The agreement commits both sides to cooperation in defence, particularly maritime security for Russian activities in the Baltic, Black and Azov Seas, as well as technology projects including drones, which have become an important weapon for both sides in the war. The treaty also includes a system to help track stolen Ukrainian grain exported by Russia from occupied areas of the country.

“Putin's ambition to separate Ukraine from its closest partners is a huge strategic failure. Instead, we are closer than ever and this partnership will take that friendship to the next level,” Starmer said said before the visit.

“This is not just a matter of the here and now, but an investment in the next century between our two countries, combining technological development, scientific advancement and cultural exchange, and taking advantage of the amazing innovation that Ukraine has shown in recent years, passing on from generation to generation. “Come.

Zelensky said he and Starmer would also discuss a plan proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron to station French and other Western troops in Ukraine to monitor a ceasefire.

Zelensky said any such proposal should be consistent with Ukraine's timetable for joining NATO. The alliance's 32 members say Ukraine will one day join, but not until after the war. Trump appears to be sympathetic to Putin's position that Ukraine should not join NATO.

As the brutal war approaches its three-year mark, both Russia and Ukraine are pushing for battlefield victories ahead of possible peace talks. Ukraine has launched a second offensive in Russia's Kursk region as it fights to hold on to a swath of territory it captured last year and stepped up drone and missile attacks on weapons sites and fuel depots in Russia.

Moscow is slowly occupying territory along a 600-mile frontline in eastern Ukraine at the cost of massive casualties, and is launching a fierce attack on Ukraine's energy systems in an attempt to deprive Ukrainians of heat and light in the depths of winter. On Wednesday, Russia launched ballistic and cruise missile attacks across Ukraine, forcing authorities to shut down power grids in parts of the country.