Boris Johnson has made a surprise visit to Kyiv to hold face-to-face talks with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
The trip to the Ukrainian capital on Friday is the British prime minister’s second since Russia began its invasion in February.
Mr President, Volodymyr,
It is good to be in Kyiv again. pic.twitter.com/wbpMuf6YqY— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) June 17, 2022
A message on Mr Zelenskiy’s Telegram account read: “Many days of this war have proved that Great Britain’s support for Ukraine is firm and resolute.
“Glad to see our country’s great friend Boris Johnson in Kyiv again.”
Video from the Ukrainian government showed Mr Zelenskiy warmly greeting the British prime minister with a “hi, Boris” as he arrived at the presidential palace.
Mr Johnson tweeted a picture of himself with Mr Zelenskiy, adding: “Mr President, Volodymyr, it is good to be in Kyiv again.”
The prime minister pulled out of an expected appearance in Doncaster for a conference of northern Tory MPs to dash to Ukraine.
The visit came a day after Mr Zelenskiy was visited by French president Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Olaf Scholz and Italy’s Mario Draghi as Ukraine makes a bid to join the EU.
Mr Johnson’s first war-time visit to Kyiv came in April, as Russian president Vladimir Putin shifted the focus of his depleted troops to the eastern Donbas region.
That has become a protracted battle and Mr Zelenskiy has been pressing allies to supply further, and more sophisticated, weaponry.
