British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Kyiv on Jan. 16 amid an unannounced visit to the Ukrainian capital, where Starmer is set to sign a wide-ranging "100 Year Partnership" treaty, covering a number of areas including defense, energy, and trade.
Key developments on Jan. 13: * Russia claims to occupy 2 more villages in Ukraine's east; Kyiv hasn't confirmed * Ukraine's special forces claim to repel North Korean assault in Russia's Kursk Oblast, killing 17 soldiers * Ukraine opens doors to foreign firms for military equipment modernization * Germany announces first deliveries of promised
"The U.K. has already invested in the production of our weapons, and this collaboration continues — specifically, funding will be directed toward the production of air defense systems and long-range weapons," Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin must come to understand that Russia is no longer an empire, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in an online interview with Delfi released on Jan. 10, calling the Russian leader a "f***ing idiot."
This would mark Keir Starmer’s first visit to Ukraine since becoming prime minister.
"The United States is taking sweeping action against Russia's key source of revenue for funding its brutal and illegal war against Ukraine," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.
Jordan Maclachlan, a 26-year-old volunteer and combat medic from Scotland, was killed on the front line in Ukraine on Jan. 3, BBC reported.
The U.K-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) has set up a tracking system to alert allies if a ship poses a threat to undersea cable infrastructure and track Russia's shadow fleet of tankers, London said on Jan. 7.
Zelensky said Ukraine was pressured into signing the Budapest Memorandum, and those who came up with the agreement should be jailed.
“The funds raised will be used to strengthen our economy and finance priority expenditures in the social and humanitarian spheres,” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Dec. 24.
The Russian embassy in London criticized the U.K.'s plan to transfer more than two billion pounds ($2.5 billion) to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets, calling it a "fraudulent scheme."
Ukraine is already receiving U.S. funds under the framework of the G7's $50 billion loan covered by profits from frozen Russian assets, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Dec 20.
The U.K.'s latest estimate are in line with figures from Ukraine's General Staff, which, as of Dec. 19, sits at 768,220 troops lost since the start of the war. The figures do not specify killed or wounded, though the overall consensus is that it includes dead, wounded, missing, and captured.
According to media reports, the package includes over 92 million pound ($115 million) in equipment to support Ukraine's navy, including small boats as well as reconnaissance drones. A further 39 million pounds ($49 million) will be used to supply over 1,000 counter-drone electronic warfare systems.
The United Kingdom sanctioned 20 vessels of Russia’s "shadow fleet" and pledged 35 million pounds ($44 million) in aid to repair Ukraine’s energy grid, the British government said on Dec. 17.
"Everybody in NATO and in the EU right now has the feeling in their backbone that you should increase defense expenditure because of what is happening all over the world and with Russia," Estonia's Prime Minister Kristen Michal told Reuters.
Russia’s focus on the war in Ukraine has significantly reduced its ability to support Syria’s Assad regime, increasing the risk of losing key military assets in the region, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported on Dec. 13 via X.
The latest round of sanctions imposes asset freezes on five individuals involved in the illicit gold trade, including the CEO of Paloma Precious, which has purchased more than $300 million of Russian gold.
Key developments on Dec. 9: * Zelensky 'may consider' deployment of foreign peacekeepers in Ukraine to ensure ceasefire * Ex-chief of Russian-run Olenivka prison allegedly killed in car bombing in occupied Donetsk * Trump 'formulating a concept' to end Russia-Ukraine war * Russia claims bodies of Il-76 crash victims given to Ukraine, Kyiv says
Zelensky added that effective guarantees are currently needed for Ukraine's security, namely "real alliances and a real security foundation within the country," as well as "weapons that enable defense and deterrence of the enemy."
On Dec. 5, 1994, Ukraine had signed a set of political agreements that would guarantee the country's sovereignty and independence in return for accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Signed in Budapest, the memorandum would lay grounds for Ukraine to dispose of its nuclear arsenal
The world faces the dawn of a "third nuclear age," the head of the U.K.'s armed forces Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said on Dec. 4.
The United Kingdom's National Crime Agency (NCA) announced on Dec. 4 that it had dismantled a multibillion-dollar money laundering scheme that has enabled criminal networks, including Russian spies and oligarchs, to evade sanctions using cryptocurrency.
"We must continue to back Ukraine ... To put Ukraine in the strongest possible position for negotiations so that they can secure a just and lasting peace on their terms that guarantees their security, independence, and right to choose their future."
The official, who requested anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly, noted that these discussions happen in individual capitals, not within NATO.
A former UFO investigator with the U.K.'s Ministry of Defense has suggested potential links between recent drone incursions at the Royal Air Force (RAF) bases in the U.K. and foreign adversaries, including Russia and China. The drones were spotted between Nov. 20 and 22 over three U.S. Air Force bases in the U.K.
"I don’t think we should be sending in combat troops to take on the Russians,” former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. "But I think as part of the solution, as part of the end state, you’re going to want to have multinational European peace-keeping forces monitoring the border, helping the Ukrainians."
"I think we have to face up to the fact that the Russians think they're in a state of war with us," Richard Dearlove, the former head of MI6, told Sky News on Nov. 27.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry barred 30 U.K. nationals, including lawmakers, journalists, and ministers like Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Finance Minister Rachel Reeves, from entering its territory in a decision published on Nov. 26.
Unidentified drones have flown over three U.S. Air Force bases in the U.K. in the past week, U.S. officials said on Nov. 26.
The Russian Investigative Committee charged James Scott Rhys Anderson with "terrorism" and "mercenarism," following its long-standing practice of persecuting foreign volunteers that end up in Russian captivity.
"We are not committing U.K. troops on the ground to Ukraine, but we continue to support Ukraine with training and military assistance, and we have been absolutely clear that we will continue to do that for as long as is required and is needed," U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said.
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