The UK Foreign Secretary Makes an Unexpected Visit to Ukraine

In an unexpected development, the British Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, visited the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, on Monday. The unannounced visit saw the British minister meeting with Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky.

President Zelensky revealed this news on his official social media page. "I met with the UK's Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, James Cleverly. We discussed several pertinent issues during the meeting: Ukraine's expectations from the NATO Vilnius Summit, advancing the Ukrainian peace formula, and preparations for the Global Summit on its implementation, as well as the London International Conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine," the post read.

"We are very grateful for the support that the UK has been providing and continues to offer to Ukraine. We've had discussions with the Prime Minister of the UK in recent weeks, engaging in direct dialogue, and have reached some crucial agreements," the Ukrainian president noted.

As a reminder, the UK Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, recently affirmed Ukraine's legitimate right to defend itself, including "the use of force beyond its borders". "They have the legitimate right to do so within their borders, but they also have the right to use force beyond their borders to undermine Russia's ability to exert force on Ukraine itself," the British minister pointed out.

According to Cleverly, "legitimate military targets" beyond Ukraine's borders are part of its self-defence.

Today's visit by the head of the UK Foreign Office was not previously announced. His previous visit to Ukraine was in November last year, during regular bombardments of Kyiv. The visit by the British Foreign Secretary, which followed a visit to the Ukrainian capital by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, was carried out under high security.

At that time, Cleverly affirmed that the UK stands "shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine" and that Russia's war is "failing". Following this, he unveiled a new support package for Ukraine. This included 24 ambulances, 11 emergency vehicles, including six armoured cars. The package also comprised £3 million towards infrastructure restoration, including schools and shelters devastated since the onset of the war. Funds were also directed to support victims of sexual violence during Russia's aggression in Ukraine."