British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (L) lays flowers at an impromptu memorial for Ukraine's fallen soldiers alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on a visit to Kyiv on Thursday to formalize a "landmark" long-term support package for the embattled country. Photo courtesy President of Ukraine/X
Jan. 16 (UPI) -- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer inked a "landmark 100-year" security and economic partnership with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday on his first visit to the country since becoming prime minister in July.
The military side of the deal will strengthen maritime security cooperation via a new initiative to bolster defense in the Black and Asov seas, as well as the Baltic Sea, and head off further Russian aggression, alongside science and tech partnerships in public health, agri-tech and aerospace and education exchange programs, No. 10 Downing Street said in a news release.
Spanning nine key pillars, the treaty and a political declaration formalizes Britain as Ukraine's preferred partner in the energy, critical metals and green steel sectors and will deliver a U.K-conceived track-and-trace scheme to combat grain theft from occupied areas, with London billing the package as a transformative forward leap for Ukraine's security long-term.
Putin's ambition to wrench Ukraine away from its closest partners has been a monumental strategic failure. Instead, we are closer than ever, and this partnership will take that friendship to the next level," Starmer said.
"This is not just about the here and now, it is also 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 stressed that the strength of the enduring friendship should not be underestimated, saying that supporting Ukraine's defense against Russia's "barbaric invasion" and helping it bounce back to a flourishing and free future was essential to underpinning the Zelensky administration's security footing.
At a wreath-laying ceremony with Zelensky at Kyiv's remembrance wall for the fallen in Mykhailivska Square, Starmer vowed Britain would "never let up" on providing the backing Ukraine needed.
During the visit, he announced $48.8 million for a new economic recovery program to funnel private lending worth hundreds of millions of dollars to small- and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine at the heart of its economy.
That was on top of the $15.6 billion mostly military assistance Britain has sent Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 and the $3.7 billion annually it has pledged for the country's defense going forward "for as long as it takes."
The partnership, initiated by the previous Conservative administration of Rishi Sunak, and expected to be approved in the House of Commons in the near future came as Marco Rubio, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for Secretary of State, warned compromises from both Ukraine and Russia would be required to end the conflict.
Despite the uncertainty with a second Trump presidency just days away, Starmer insisted Western backing for Ukraine be "bigger and stronger than it has ever been" and that the conflict had made the NATO alliance stronger.
Zelensky, who has long lobbied for Ukraine to be admitted to the 32-member country security alliance, also wants peacekeepers deployed to police any peace deal and "freeze" current frontlines, creating a possible demilitarized zone separating the two sides.
Britain's Telegraph newspaper reported Wednesday that Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were in talks to contribute British and French troops to any post-war peacekeeping force.
