UK leader Keir Starmer signs ‘100-year partnership’ agreement with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy

Kyiv: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed a 100-year partnership agreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday, part of a European show of support and promises to keep helping Ukraine endure in its nearly three-year war with Russia.

The announcement came days before Donald Trump is sworn in as US President with scepticism of America’s military burden in Europe and what he says is a plan to end the continent’s biggest conflict since World War II.

“We are with you not just today or tomorrow, for this year or the next, but for 100 years — long after this terrible war is over and Ukraine is free and thriving once again,” Starmer told Zelenskyy during a visit to Kyiv, promising that the UK would “play our part” in guaranteeing Ukraine’s post-war security.

Starmer said the landmark century-long agreement commits the two sides to cooperate on defense — especially maritime security against Russian activity in the Baltic Sea, Black Sea and Sea of Azov — and on technology projects including drones, which have become vital weapons for both sides in the war.

The treaty also includes a system to help track stolen Ukrainian grain exported by Russia from occupied parts of the



country.

Ukraine’s alignment with the West, and potential future membership in NATO, have angered Russian President Vladimir Putin, who still wants to exert influence over the independent nation.

While Starmer was meeting with Zelenskyy at the presidential palace, debris from Russian drones shot down by Ukraine’s air defences fell in at least four districts of Kyiv, according to city administration chief Tymur Tkachenko. One was close to the Baroque presidential palace where the two men met.

Starmer said that the drones were “a reminder” of what the Ukrainian people are up against and their resolve. Starmer’s unannounced visit is his first trip to Ukraine since he took office in July, though he said that it was his seventh meeting with Zelenskyy.

The Italian defence chief was also in Kyiv on Thursday, two days after Germany’s Defence Minister visited and three days after Zelenskyy talked by phone with French President Emmanuel Macron.

The flurry of diplomatic activity came in the days leading up to Trump’s inauguration on Monday, which is expected to bring a departure from the outgoing US administration’s pledge to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes to defeat Russia.