British Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a surprise visit to Ukraine on Saturday, during which he met in Kiev with Volodymyr Zelensky, an adviser to the Ukrainian leader said in a message posted on Facebook along with a photo of the two leaders. .
Boris’ visit is “a gesture of solidarity with the Ukrainian people” and was carried out with the intention of “presenting a new package of financial and military aid” to the country, Downing Street said.
The visit ends Boris’ weeks of lobbying to find Zelensky. The leaders have spoken almost every day since the start of the war, according to aides to the British prime minister.
In a side-by-side press conference, with the two countries’ flags in the background, the leaders praised each other for their cooperation since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February.
The British leader has been one of Ukraine’s most vocal supporters amid the Russian invasion. Along with other Western countries, the United Kingdom is leading the effort to send weapons to Kiev and impose sanctions against Moscow – this Saturday, Boris promised 120 armored vehicles and new anti-ship missile systems.
“Other western democratic states should follow the UK’s example,” Zelensky said, adding that it was time for countries to impose a complete ban on Russian energy supplies.
Boris responded that he, along with his allies, will increase economic pressure on Russia, with new rounds of sanctions week by week. In addition to sanctions on Russian oligarchs and the freezing of bank assets, another measure to be adopted is to abandon the use of Russian hydrocarbons, according to the British premier.
The support is aimed at ensuring that “Ukraine is never bullied again, never again blackmailed, never again threatened in the same way,” Boris said. The bodies of civilians killed in the streets of Bucha, he added, permanently tarnished Vladimir Putin’s reputation.
After speaking to the press, the leaders walked the streets of Kiev. Always accompanied by Zelensky and the men escorting him, Boris talked to residents, visited a monument to those killed during the pro-European Union protests in 2014 and received a woman’s ceramic rooster, found among the rubble of a destroyed building in Borodianka. , near Kiev.
On Friday (8), the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, and the head of foreign affairs of the European Union, Josep Borrel, visited the town of Butcha, on the outskirts of the capital, where bodies were discovered in the streets and in mass graves after the withdrawal of Russian troops.
On March 15, the leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia also met with Zelensky in Kiev.
