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UK foreign secretary meets Zelensky in Kiev

Monday, 05 June 2023 5:24 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 05 June 2023 5:24 PM ]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) shakes hands with UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly in Kiev on June 5, 2023. (Photo by AFP)

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the capital Kiev, promising to continue support for the country until it is "victorious."

Zelensky said on Telegram that he received Cleverly on Monday and that he is “very grateful for the support that the UK has provided and continues to provide to Ukraine.”

He also posted a video in which Cleverly is heard saying that the UK “will continue backing you and your country until you are victorious.”

“During the meeting, we discussed important topical issues: Ukraine’s expectations from the NATO Summit in Vilnius, promotion of the Ukrainian peace formula and preparation of the global summit on its implementation, as well as the London international conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine,” wrote the Ukrainian leader.

The foreign secretary also reiterated that London “will continue backing you and your country until you are victorious in your self-defense.”

“When we said that we would do more and go further, we meant it,” he added.

Britain, after the United States, is the second largest provider of advanced armaments and munitions to Ukraine.

It became the first country to start supplying Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles, giving Kiev the ability to attack inside Russia.

Last month, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said London was sending Shadow Storm missiles to Ukraine so they could be used domestically, meaning he had received assurances from Ukraine that they would not be used to target inside Russia.

Accusing Russia of deliberately targeting civilians, he claimed that Russia's actions had led to sending such systems to Ukraine.

Ukraine using UK missiles to hit civilian targets in Luhansk: Russia

Russia says that Ukraine used British long-range missiles to target civilian sites in the eastern city of Luhansk.

Moscow said later that Kiev used Britain’s long-range cruise missiles to strike two industrial sites in Russian-controlled territory in eastern Ukraine.

Storm Shadow has a range of “in excess of 250km,” according to its manufacturer, the European arms group MBDA.

That is significantly higher than the high-precision US HIMARS rocket launchers currently used heavily by Ukraine, which rely on missiles with a range of 47 miles.

Since the onset of the war in Ukraine in February last year, the West has supplied Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars worth of weapons, including rocket systems, drones, armored vehicles, tanks, and communication systems despite Russia's repeated warnings that the Western military assistance will only prolong the war.

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