Keir Starmer has said he believes Ukraine will win the war against Russia as he ended his final visit to the country while in office. Starmer met Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Thursday and told Sky News in an interview: “I believe Ukraine will win this war.” He added: “What they’ve shown is that it’s not just the size of your army, it’s how you fight a modern conflict. And so they are probably the most effective fighting machine in Europe.”
Starmer’s visit came on his final full day as Labour leader, with the British leader saying the handover would not change the relationship between the two nations. “The fact that there will be a new prime minister in the United Kingdom, in the days to come, doesn’t change that dynamic at all,” he said. “The resolve of the United Kingdom remains the same, it will not waver.”
Starmer also announced 300 million-euro funding to help deliver a squadron of 16 advanced Swedish Gripen jets to Ukraine by 2029. The Gripen aircraft can be used for air-to-air combat, ground strikes and reconnaissance missions.
Zelenskyy defended on Thursday his decision to dismiss the country’s popular defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, and confirmed reports that relations had broken down between the ministry and the country’s top army leadership. His decision to back the commander of Ukraine’s armed forces Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi has outraged civil society. More than 1,000 protesters gathered outside the presidential office in Kyiv on Thursday, carrying placards in support of Fedorov. Ukraine’s youthful defence minister was seen as an innovator of the country’s successful drone technology but was someone who clashed with the traditional military establishment.
