AFP reported that British Prime Minister Andy Burnham will visit Kiev on August 24 (local time) on his first international tour since taking office last month, the British Prime Minister's Office said, on the occasion of Ukraine's 35th anniversary of independence.
Mr. Burnham pledged strong support for Ukraine in the conflict with Russia.
The British leader's visit comes after he announced that Britain "has agreed to let the MBDA defense corporation provide confidential information about British-made components for the SCALP long-range missile, in order to establish assembly lines in Ukraine," according to a statement.
SCALP is a French-made version of the British Storm Shadow missile, both using joint French and British technology. According to the British Prime Minister's Office on Downing Street, Britain was the first country to provide long-range attack weapons to Ukraine for defense purposes in 2023.
The decision to declassify the above information will "allow the French and Ukrainian sides to proceed with the assembly of missiles right in Ukraine". This step "also complements Britain's great efforts to quickly develop modern, low-cost long-range attack weapons for Ukraine through the Brakestop Project," the statement said.
In Kiev, Mr. Burnham will co-chair for the first time a meeting of the Voluntary Alliance, a mechanism that gathers countries supporting Kiev. The French Presidential Palace confirmed that the meeting takes place in a "combined" form, meaning that some parties attend directly while others connect via television bridges. Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin's office said he will attend remotely.
On the occasion of the 35th anniversary of Ukraine's independence, the Ukrainian people should not doubt this: Britain is standing side by side with you today and for as long as it is necessary," Mr. Burnham stated in a statement.
The visit took place a few weeks after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in London. During that trip, the UK also announced that it would share with Kiev information about a new live-fire electronic jamming capability, called "Stone Cloak". According to Downing Street, when mounted on unmanned aerial vehicles, these tablet-sized military jamming devices can hinder Russian air defense systems from tracking and locking targets of flying weapons.
Britain is one of the strongest supporters of Ukraine since Russia launched a large-scale military campaign in 2022, with a commitment of about 25 billion pounds (34 billion USD), including 16 billion pounds in military aid.
