The loan agreement was signed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko at a virtual ceremony as Starmer met Zelensky at 10 Downing Street, London
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy received a warm welcome from UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a day after his spat at the Oval office with US President Donald Trump. During the meeting, Starmer assured Zelenskyy that he has “full backing” across the United Kingdom, to which the latter replied that he was happy that his country had “such friends”. The two leaders also signed a £2.26 billion loan to bolster Ukrainian military supplies, using profits from frozen Russian assets.
The UK and Ukraine on Saturday signed a loan agreement worth £2.26 billion ($2.84 billion, 2.74 billion euros) aimed at backing the defence capabilities of Kyiv as the war with Russia continues. London called the deal a sign of “our unwavering and ongoing support for the Ukrainian people”.
The loan agreement was signed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko at a virtual ceremony as Starmer met Zelensky at 10 Downing Street, London. It is to be to be paid back with the profits of immobilised sovereign Russian assets, AFP reported.
The first tranche of funding is likely to reach Ukraine later next week. The funds will be directed towards the production of weapons in Ukraine.
Following the meeting, Zelenskyy thanked UK for its “tremendous support” for Ukraine, while Starmer reiterated UK’s “unwavering support” for the war-hit European nation.
“It was an honour to welcome @ZelenskyyUa to Downing Street and reiterate my unwavering support for Ukraine. I am determined to find a path that ends Russia’s illegal war and ensures a just and lasting peace that secures Ukraine’s future sovereignty and security,” UK PM Starmer wrote on X. Meanwhile, Zelenskyy described the meeting with Starmer in London as “warm”, and said in a post on X: “During our talks, we discussed the challenges facing Ukraine and all of Europe today, coordination with partners, specific steps to strengthen Ukraine’s positions and end the war with a just peace, and reliable security guarantees.”
“Principled words of support from the Prime Minister and an important decision: today, in our presence, a loan agreement was signed between Ukraine and Great Britain. A loan to strengthen our defense capabilities, which will be repaid from the income received from frozen Russian assets. The money will go to the production of weapons in Ukraine. That’s just: the one who started the war must pay,” he added.
Europe scrambling to ramp up support
Shock shot round a world which witnessed the astonishing shouting match in the Oval Office. Now, in many capitals, that sharp intake of breath has been replaced by the deep breath needed to find a way out of this dangerous impasse.
Ukraine knows, through all its painful losses of this war, the urgency of keeping the United States on its side. So too does Europe, now scrambling to ramp up its own support to embattled Kyiv. President Trump, who prides himself on being the world’s best peacemaker, needs Ukraine to clinch any deal.
The American leader’s furious charge, shared by his ardent supporters, that President Zelensky “disrespected” the United States won’t be easily forgotten or forgiven. But there are many who blame President Trump and his team for berating, even entrapping, a leader fighting not just for his country, but the facts of Russia’s full-scale invasion, and the security guarantees needed to stop it.
Old alliances and assumptions are not just shattered, the pieces don’t fit together anymore. Now is a fateful time to try to forge a new architecture.
‘Trump-Zelensky exchange a big shock’
Meanwhile, Ukrainian MP Lisa Yasko says the exchange between Trump and Zelensky in the White House yesterday “was a big shock…especially for ordinary Ukrainians who still believed that the US and the West would help us”. “It’s not a gamble. It’s about millions of people. So this is very sensitive to all of us,” she tells BBC’s 5 Live, adding: “We want to end war, but we also want to have respect. And we also don’t want to forget who the aggressor is.”
She goes on to say that for Ukraine “every conversation is about people’s lives”. “Sometimes you have to say no, if you understand that it will not bring you long term peace. A ceasefire without any understanding of future security is not going to help us,” she adds.
