London: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday arrived in the United Kingdom to meet with the country’s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
“Arrived in the United Kingdom. My schedule includes meetings with Prime Minister Andy Burnham, as well as with our warriors who are currently in the UK, including those who took part in the Sea Breeze exercises,” Zelensky wrote on X.
“Over the years of the full-scale war, we have built the strongest relationship in the entire history of cooperation between Ukraine and the United Kingdom. The key priorities are air defence, maritime security, and joint defence production – our cooperation that strengthens both countries. We value that we can always count on Britain’s principled decisions, leadership, and support. We will continue working to further strengthen our partnership and enhance the security of our countries,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Zelensky noted that he had a very good phone call with the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
“I hope that we will have a productive bilateral meeting where we will speak about all sorts of things. We did a lot with Keir, and we need to carry on, open a new chapter in our relations,” Zelensky noted on X.
Elaborating on ‘Drone Deal’, Zelensky said he wants to build a big drone factory in Britain and share experience with the UK.
“I want to build a big factory in Britain based on new technologies, share them with our partners. We are ready to share all our experience with the UK. I hope that the UK will do the same. We need to make this Drone Deal very strong. When we meet, I will be talking not only about our needs, but also about how we see our bilateral relations in the future, what we can do together to strengthen both Ukraine and the UK,” Zelensky stated on X.
He also emphasised the requirements and the UK’s interest in Ukraine’s drones and noted the need for building European anti-ballistic air defence.
“There are three things that are very important to create something new. You need funding. You need technologies that Ukraine and the UK have. Ukraine has good missiles, but we see that the UK’s Storm Shadows are strong, and we want to produce them or something similar. The UK wants to have such drones as we have, including sea drones. We are open to this. Next, training. The UK helped us with this, and we are ready – with all our experience – to share with the UK what it might need. Then, for example, the UK doesn’t have anti-ballistic air defence. We need to build our European anti-ballistic system. We can work together,” he noted on X.
(IANS)
