New agreements and recipe for defeating Putin: Summary of Zelenskyy's visit to the UK
Photo: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the European Political Community summit in the UK (president.gov.ua)
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy is on a working visit to the United Kingdom. He took part in the fourth summit of the European Political Community, held several meetings, and gave an interview to the BBC.
RBC-Ukraine summarizes the main results and statements.
Contents
- European leaders should follow Churchill's example, and military airfields in Russia must be destroyed
- Security agreements with Czechia and Slovenia
- Topics discussed at the meetings with European leaders
- Defense deal worth $2.5 billion
- How to defeat Putin and make him seek peace
- War, peace, and Trump: What else Zelenskyy said
European leaders should follow Churchill's example, and military airfields in Russia must be destroyed
At the EPC summit, one of the largest meetings of European leaders in recent years, Zelensky called on them to follow the example of Winston Churchill. During the Second World War, he said the complete defeat of Nazi Germany was non-alternative. Zelenskyy focused on three points in his welcoming speech.
The first was unity in Europe. The preservation of such unity means that Vladimir Putin has failed to split Europe. And the longer it lasts, the stronger the future peace in Ukraine will be. He also hinted at Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's trips to Moscow, saying that the EU and NATO can resolve issues without a person who “promises something against our interests or at the expense of Ukraine.”
The second is the reality on the battlefield. The president said that the Russian offensive on Kharkiv had been stopped. He called on partners to act as boldly as possible.
“The more effective our air defense is, the more helpless Putin will be. The fewer restrictions we have on the use of effective weapons, the more Russia will seek peace. Military airfields from which Russian jets take off with bombs against our cities, our people, our children, and the launch sites of Russian missiles – all these must be destroyed,” he said and called on the United States, Britain, France, Germany, and Poland to take the necessary steps.
The third is diplomacy. Zelenskyy stresses that Ukrainians who are fighting for Europe and Ukraine should feel that Europe is getting closer and that joining NATO is irreversible. But the most important thing is peace summits. According to him, some groups formed to work on the Peace Formula points will soon start preparing for the second summit.
Security agreements with Czechia and Slovenia
On the sidelines of the summit, President Zelenskyy signed bilateral security cooperation agreements with Czechia and Slovenia.
The ten-year agreement with Czech guarantees that the country will maintain the dynamics of military assistance. Over the past two years, it amounted to 400 million euros. Besides, Czechia will continue to explore options for supplying additional military equipment.
A notable part of the document is devoted to cooperation in the military-technical sphere, namely the production of small- and large-caliber ammunition, small arms, light weapons, UAVs, electronic warfare equipment, and heavy machinery. Czechia will continue to assist with the initiative to supply artillery shells. And the parties are going to create joint ventures.
At the moment, it is known about the transfer of the first batch of 50,000 shells and plans to produce ammunition and Colt assault rifles in Ukraine.
Czechia will continue to train about 4,000 Ukrainian soldiers annually as part of the EU mission. It will become a partner of Dnipro and the Dnipropetrovsk region in the non-military sphere. The support includes humanitarian and material assistance and opening a diplomatic mission in the regional center.
Slovenia also pledged in the ten-year agreement to meet Ukraine's urgent needs, facilitate military training, and seek sources of funding for defense.
Separate blocks of the document relate to non-military support. Slovenia will allocate an additional 5 million euros for humanitarian aid, economic recovery, and the Grain from Ukraine program. The document also refers to strengthening cooperation in communication and cybersecurity, intelligence and counterintelligence, and humanitarian demining.
At a meeting with the Slovenian Prime Minister, Zelenskyy agreed to accelerate the implementation of defense agreements. This was the 25th agreement.
Topics discussed at the meetings with European leaders
The president met with his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vučić. Zelenskyy thanked him for financial and humanitarian assistance, as well as for Serbia's participation in the first peace summit and support for the joint communiqué. The leaders discussed the development of bilateral relations and security threats in the European region.
“I emphasized the importance of restoring peace and stability on our continent and reaffirmed that this can only be achieved through community dialogue and political solutions,” Vučić said.
Later, at a meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, the parties discussed the timing of the arms delivery and further support. It was announced earlier that a new batch of military aid had begun to flow to Ukraine, namely 10 Leopard 2A4 tanks, several excavators, and anti-tank missiles.
At a meeting with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, the president thanked the country for aid packages and direct investments in defense. This country was the first to order military equipment directly from a Ukrainian manufacturer. These are 18 Bohdana self-propelled howitzers for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Zelenskyy also asked to expand the training mission for pilots on F-16s.
He was then received by King Charles III. The president called the UK one of Ukraine's most important allies and praised the support and attention to Ukrainians who had taken refuge in the country.
He also met with Prime Minister Keir Starmer today. Zelenskyy emphasized the need to expand Ukraine's long-range capabilities. The parties also discussed the implementation of the Maritime Capabilities Coalition, created at the British initiative.
Starmer said that his government was ready to speed up the process of transferring military equipment to equip the new combat brigades of the Defense Forces. Special attention was paid to the 100-Year Partnership Agreement. Starmer also accepted an invitation to visit Ukraine.
He called Zelenskyy's visit to Downing Street a historic event. Defense Secretary John Healey confirmed that London would most likely not be against Ukraine hitting military targets in Russia with Storm Shadow missiles. But it will not help hit targets.
Defense deal worth $2.5 billion
Zelenskyy also met with top managers of leading British defense companies BAE Systems, Thales UK, MBDA, KBR, and Babcock. Zelenskyy invited them to the Ukrainian market and to cooperate with Ukrainian enterprises.
They discussed the prospects for joint production of ammunition, air defense systems, guns, armored vehicles, and drones, as well as the repair and maintenance of military equipment previously transferred by the UK.
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and his British counterpart John Healey signed an agreement on a £2 billion (about $2.5 billion) defense loan.
The money will be used for joint projects - the supply, repair, and partial production of air defense systems, armored vehicles, and ammunition. British suppliers will be able to sign contracts with Ukraine for this amount. But it is not final and can be increased.
The agreement is expected to provide the Ukrainian forces with additional air defense, radar, and destruction equipment by 2026, and to obtain technology and start production of Western-style guns, spare parts, and components for artillery and armored vehicles.
The loan has a maturity of 15 years.
How to defeat Putin and make him seek peace
Today, President Zelenskyy addressed a meeting of the British government. He expressed hope that his work would open up new opportunities for Ukraine. Since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion, Britain has taken steps to support the resilience of the Ukrainian nation, army, and society, and Russia is afraid of such support.
“Moscow knows that you in London can make decisions that can bring this war to an end. And it will be the right ending - just and fair,” he said.
In his opinion, Russia is weaker in intelligence, diplomacy, and economy. Putin's only competitive advantage is a large stockpile of Soviet-era weapons, money, and a disregard for human life.
“We must deprive Putin of money and the ability to produce more weapons. And he must pay for his disregard for human life with his losses and his defeat. How can we ensure this? Right now we lack the main answer to this question. And this is our long-range capability,” the president emphasized.
As soon as Ukraine starts hitting farther from the border - Russian military airfields - it will be able to protect its forward positions and cities from bombs, Zelenskyy added. He called on the British to show leadership and convince other partners to lift the restrictions.
“We need this step to make Russia seek peace,” he said.
War, peace, and Trump: What else Zelenskyy said
Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave an interview to the BBC, and he talked a lot about the war, Donald Trump, and diplomacy with Russia.
According to him, territories are not always won by force, and Ukraine may agree to a diplomatic settlement if Russia is under global pressure. If Moscow is weakened on the battlefield, it will put Kyiv in a stronger position.
He even suggested that the hot phase of the war could end as early as 2024. But only if the allies maintain their support and everything goes according to the plan being prepared for the second peace summit.
“We can try to do that by the end of this year. The plan will be ready. If it leads to the end of the hot stage of the war, it will be very right and very powerful,” he said.
The president complained about the delay in the delivery of F-16 multi-function fighters. It has been 18 months since the agreement, and “the planes have not reached us,” he said. According to him, there are currently decisions on 10-20 aircraft, but even if there are 50, it will be nothing, as the minimum required to fight Russia on equal terms is 128 units.
Answering a question about the presidential election in Ukraine, he said that it could not take place due to martial law. Zelenskyy noted that he was open to stepping down from the presidency, but “not until the war is over.”
Speaking about the US presidential election, he says Ukraine is ready to cooperate with anyone who will be in the White House. Commenting on fears that support from Washington might decrease with Donald Trump in the office, he said: “Maybe he really doesn’t understand what goes on in Ukraine, so we have to work with the United States.”
Possible cooperation with Trump will be hard work, but Ukrainians are hard workers, he added. He also rejected Trump's plan to end the war in 24 hours if it implies the loss of territory and Putin's victory. The war is likely to end quickly if Ukraine pays a high price.
“It means simply stopping - giving up the territories and forgetting. The sanctions will be lifted, Putin will get the land, and he will make a victory out of it. We will never do that,” Zelenskyy said.
It may be discussed in a personal conversation. According to CNN, a conversation between Trump and Zelenskyy may take place today.
Sources: Ukrainian President's Office, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, statements by European leaders, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy's interview with the BBC.
