Keir Starmer to sign symbolic ‘100-year partnership’ treaty with Volodymyr Zelenskyy

May Be Interested In:Elon Musk’s newest job title is literally ‘unlisted’


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 that some Ukrainian officials feel is overdue.

Starmer’s trip comes days ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president on Monday but more than six months since he took office as UK prime minister in July.

It also contrasts with his Conservative predecessors, who were quicker to travel to Kyiv to demonstrate their solidarity with the Ukrainian leader and his people.

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 he takes office on Monday, the timing of Starmer’s first visit to Kyiv since becoming prime minister is highly symbolic.

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.

The ‘100-year partnership’ will span military and non-military issues and aim to deepen community links © Carl Court/Getty Images

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 it 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.

Starmer meets a patient at a specialist burns hospital in Kyiv
Starmer meets a war casualty at a specialist burns hospital in Kyiv © Carl Court/Getty Images

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 said 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 Ukrainian officials, 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.

There was frustration in Kyiv last year at Britain and France’s refusal to allow Ukraine to allow their long-range missiles to be used by Kyiv against targets in Russia without the approval of US President Joe Biden. That agreement was finally reached last November.

Some British officials said that Starmer had been 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 has said.

While Britain is the second-biggest European donor to Ukraine after Germany, it has given significantly less as a share of GDP than Kyiv’s Nordic and Baltic allies.

This week’s 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.

Additional reporting by Isobel Koshiw in Kyiv

share Share facebook pinterest whatsapp x print

Similar Content

SOHO spacecraft marks 29th anniversary of its launch
SOHO spacecraft marks 29th anniversary of its launch
Meet the Musk tribe – who are Elon Musk’s 12 children?
Meet the Musk tribe – who are Elon Musk’s 12 children?
Kyrgios and Kokkinakis mull future after injury-plauged Australian Open
Kyrgios and Kokkinakis mull future after injury-plauged Australian Open
Nonpharmacologic Options Can Manage Hot Flashes
Nonpharmacologic Options Can Manage Hot Flashes
HP wins huge fraud case against Autonomy founder and CEO Mike Lynch
HP wins huge fraud case against Autonomy founder and CEO Mike Lynch
Download app from appStore
Benny Blanco spat out Jollibee food in a viral post, angering many in the Filipino community: ‘Blatant disgust and disrespect’
The Unseen News: Beyond the Mainstream | © 2025 | Daily News