Burnham picks Kyiv for his first foreign trip as British prime minister

Monday, August 24th 2026 - 07:28 UTC

Burnham announced that his government had authorised defence firm MBDA to declassify information on British-made components of the long-range SCALP missile

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham arrived in Kyiv on Monday on his first trip abroad since taking office in July, coinciding with the 35th anniversary of Ukraine's independence. He met Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and is due to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky and chair his first meeting of the so-called coalition of the willing, set up by London and Paris under his predecessor, Keir Starmer.

Burnham announced that his government had authorised defence firm MBDA to declassify information on British-made components of the long-range SCALP missile, so that France and Ukraine can establish assembly lines on Ukrainian soil. SCALP is the French-produced version of Britain's Storm Shadow; both use shared technology from the two countries and are built by the same company.

“On Ukraine's 35th anniversary of independence, the Ukrainian people should be in no doubt: the UK is behind you today and for as long as it takes,” the prime minister said ahead of the trip. “Ukraine's security is our security.”