LONDON: Britain promised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky long-range attack drones when he visited the country on Monday as part of European tour aimed at securing new weapons for a counteroffensive against Russia.

Zelensky met Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the British leader’s Chequers country residence, where the pair also discussed Ukraine’s request for Western fighter jets.

Britain said it would begin basic training of Ukrainian pilots this summer “hand in hand with UK efforts to work with other countries on providing F-16 jets”.

“We want to create this jets coalition and I’m very positive with it...I see that in the closest time you will hear some, I think, very important decisions, but we have to work a little bit more on it,” Zelensky, who arrived from visits to Rome, Berlin and Paris, told reporters after the meeting.

Russia takes ‘extremely negative’ view of Britain’s decision

Sunak said Britain would provide Ukraine with hundreds of air defence missiles and further unmanned aerial systems, including new long-range attack drones with a range of more than 200 km, to be delivered “over the coming months”.

Sunak’s spokesman also said Britain had no plans to send fighter jets to Ukraine.

“The Ukrainians made the decision to train their pilots on F-16s and you will know the RAF don’t use those,” he said.

The Kremlin on Monday said Russia takes an “extremely negative” view of Britain’s decision to supply Ukraine with more military hardware.

“The conflict is at a pivotal moment,” Sunak said. “The UK will remain steadfast in supporting Ukraine and its people to defend itself...it is important for the Kremlin to also know that we are not going away. We are here for the long term.”

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2023

Opinion

Editorial

Anti-women state
Updated 25 Nov, 2024

Anti-women state

GLOBALLY, women are tormented by the worst tools of exploitation: rape, sexual abuse, GBV, IPV, and more are among...
IT sector concerns
25 Nov, 2024

IT sector concerns

PRIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s ambitious plan to increase Pakistan’s IT exports from $3.2bn to $25bn in the ...
Israel’s war crimes
25 Nov, 2024

Israel’s war crimes

WHILE some powerful states are shielding Israel from censure, the court of global opinion is quite clear: there is...
Short-changed?
Updated 24 Nov, 2024

Short-changed?

As nations continue to argue, the international community must recognise that climate finance is not merely about numbers.
Overblown ‘threat’
24 Nov, 2024

Overblown ‘threat’

ON the eve of the PTI’s ‘do or die’ protest in the federal capital, there seemed to be little evidence of the...
Exclusive politics
24 Nov, 2024

Exclusive politics

THERE has been a gradual erasure of the voices of most marginalised groups from Pakistan’s mainstream political...