Summary of the day
The UK’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, signed a 100-year partnership agreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during an unannounced visit to Kyiv today.
The agreement would formalise economic and military support already pledged to the country with further military assistance to Ukraine on offer amid concerns Donald Trump could reduce aid to Kyiv when he returns to the White House on Monday.
The partnership – which will take shape through a treaty and a political declaration – will be laid in the British parliament in the coming weeks, and will involve co-operation in areas such as healthcare, agricultural technology and the space industry.
Starmer said that, in 2025, the UK will give more support to Ukraine “than ever before” and said that Britain will be delivering a new mobile air defence system to Ukraine.
Starmer said any “lasting peace” must guarantee Ukrainian security, independence and Ukraine’s right to “choose its own future” ahead of possible peace talks later this year or beyond. He said Ukraine has to be in the “strongest possible position”.
Loud blasts and air raid sirens rang out over Kyiv after Starmer’s arrival as air defence systems in central Kyiv repelled a Russian drone attack. The air raid was “a reminder of the daily attacks and the resolve of the Ukrainian people in the face of it,” Starmer said (you can read more on the attack and Starmer’s diplomatic visit in this story).
Ukraine confirmed that its forces had struck an oil depot in western Russia where officials earlier said Kyiv’s drones had caused a fire in the Voronezh region. “A large-scale fire broke out at the facility,” the Ukrainian general staff said in a statement that claimed three drones had struck the storage facilities they said were used by the Russian army.
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Updated
A new partnership between schools in Ukraine and the UK to share books and stories is being backed by leading children’s writers including Michael Morpurgo, the author of War Horse and Private Peaceful, writes our education editor.
As part of Keir Starmer’s visit to Kyiv, the Department for Education announced the new partnership to foster cross-cultural links between school communities in both countries as well as sharing practices between education systems.
Morpurgo, a former children’s laureate who was knighted for services to literature in 2018, said:
I know of no greater gift we can pass on to our children, for with literature and stories comes knowledge and understanding of ourselves, of the past and present, of the lives of others, of the world about us. Books ask questions that open new horizons, new pathways. They bring us laughter and tears, companionship and hope.”
Fifty schools in the UK will be matched with 50 schools in Ukraine on a year-long reading project targeted at children aged 7 to 14, and delivered by the British Council in partnership with the UK’s National Literacy Trust. The schools will be chosen from across the four nations of the UK before the scheme launches in late spring this year.
Starmer said:
The resilience of the Ukrainian people is incredible. I’ve seen first-hand how learning and reading helps maintain a sense of normality for Ukraine’s children and young people, who have faced unimaginable adversity as they live, learn and play under bombardment.
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