Peace Through Strength: UK Prime Minister Starmer Visits Ukraine to Sign Additional Defence and Economic Agreements

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Ukraine today (16 January) and plans to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to sign a partnership agreement to deepen existing defence relations with the offer of further military assistance to Kyiv, The Guardian reports.

‘Peace through strength. I am in Kyiv with a simple message for the people of Ukraine: Our 100-year partnership is a promise that we will be with you not just today or tomorrow, but for a hundred years - long after this war is over and Ukraine is free and prosperous again,’ Starmer wrote.

The British prime minister will discuss the security guarantees that the UK can offer Kyiv, including the possibility of British troops joining a post-war peacekeeping force, the newspaper writes.

‘British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Ukraine to sign a new 100-year partnership agreement to deepen security ties,’ the Prime Minister's office said in a statement.

The partnership agreement will strengthen existing military cooperation in maritime security and will consolidate the UK's status as Ukraine's priority partner in the energy sector, critical minerals and clean steel production strategies, the Prime Minister's Office said.

The day before, it became known that the UK and France are negotiating the deployment of British and French troops to Ukraine as a peacekeeping contingent after a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia is reached.