Sir Keir Starmer, UK prime minister, has travelled to Kyiv to sign a “100-year partnership” treaty between Britain and Ukraine, in a show of support for Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president next week.
Starmer is expected to discuss future military support for Ukraine, including whether Britain could join France and other countries in providing security guarantees, possibly including troops on the ground, in the event of Kyiv striking a peace deal with Russia.
While European officials are increasingly confident that Trump will not hastily withdraw US support for Ukraine after his inauguration next Monday, the timing of Starmer’s first visit to Kyiv since becoming prime minister is highly symbolic.
To illustrate Britain’s long-term commitment, Starmer will sign the “100-year partnership” with Ukraine at talks with Zelenskyy, spanning military and non-military issues and deepening community links.
Downing Street said the treaty, which will be laid before parliament in the coming weeks, would help to break down barriers to trade and growth and build cultural links over many generations.
Britain has been at the forefront of western countries offering military support for Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, but the question of whether the UK would put troops on the ground as part of a European peacekeeping force will be a big test for Starmer.
His government is examining proposals to send British troops to Ukraine to provide military training, but has yet to comment on the issue of any potential deployment of peacekeepers. Some British officials believe the prospect of negotiations on Ukraine’s future both starting and concluding this year is overestimated.
Starmer said it was vital that Ukraine was put in “the strongest possible position” in its war with Russia, and that he would be discussing UK support in talks with Zelenskyy.
“We must not let up,” he said, while visiting a specialist burns hospital in Kyiv, which has been supported by NHS doctors and the British Red Cross. The prime minister met a number of casualties of the war with Russia.
Starmer said this was his seventh meeting with Zelenskyy and insisted Britain was “leading the way” in providing support for Kyiv.
“This is very important — it can’t just be words,” he said. “We must stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
Trump is looking to scale back US military commitments in Europe, so Zelenskyy is expected to look to European countries to provide security guarantees in the event of a negotiated end to the conflict with Russia.
President Emmanuel Macron of France has led consultations over security guarantees, including the possible deployment of troops. He held talks with Starmer at the UK prime minister’s Chequers country retreat last week.
“Putin’s ambition to wrench Ukraine away from its closest partners has been a monumental strategic failure,” Starmer said ahead of the Kyiv visit. “Instead, we are closer than ever, and this partnership will take that friendship to the next level.
“This is about an investment in our two countries for the next century, bringing together technology development, scientific advances and cultural exchanges, and harnessing the phenomenal innovation shown by Ukraine in recent years for generations to come.”
Starmer has been criticised by some Conservatives for failing to travel to Kyiv earlier in his premiership, although he has met Zelenskyy at various international meetings since arriving in Downing Street last July.
Grant Shapps, former defence secretary, has claimed it was “astonishing” that Starmer did not make the visit earlier. Rishi Sunak, former Tory prime minister, visited the Ukrainian capital in his first month in Downing Street in 2022.
Starmer is seen as less gung-ho by some Ukrainians, who feel he has failed to become the pro-Ukraine voice Britain was for the country under the Conservatives.
Boris Johnson, the former UK prime minister, became a Ukrainian national hero early in the invasion, perceived as the person willing to lobby for Ukraine when Europe and the US were too afraid.
He was the first major leader to visit Kyiv, just after Russian forces were pushed out, when the streets were empty and many of its residents were evacuated. Since then, Johnson has used his leverage and connections to lobby Trump on behalf of Kyiv.
Last year, Britain and France struggled for some time to persuade US President Joe Biden to allow their long-range missiles to be used by Kyiv against targets in Russia. That agreement was finally reached last November.
Some British officials said that Starmer was keen for that issue to be resolved before he travelled to Kyiv.
To date, Britain has given a £12.8bn package of support to Ukraine, including £7.8bn of military assistance and a commitment for £3bn in annual military aid “for as long as it takes”, Downing Street said.
The Kyiv agreement is intended to bolster military collaboration on maritime security. It will also bring together experts to advance partnerships in areas such as healthcare and disease, agritech, space and drones, and build links between schools in the two countries.
It also formalises the UK as a preferred partner for Ukraine’s energy sector, critical minerals strategy and green steel production.
“The power of our long-term friendships cannot be underestimated,” Starmer said, adding that the UK was “supporting Ukraine to defend itself from Russia’s barbaric invasion and rebuild a prosperous, sovereign future”.
During the Kyiv trip, Starmer will visit a local school and hospital and also announce £40mn for a new economic recovery programme. The funding will be targeted at businesses supporting the green economy, and marginalised groups including women and veterans.
Starmer arrived in Kyiv by train and was met by the UK ambassador Martin Harris.
Additional reporting by Isobel Koshiw in Kyiv
