UK political leaders have marked the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with a renewed call to support Kyiv with additional weaponry – but stopped short of the firm commitments on fighter jets demanded by Boris Johnson.
With James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, in New York for a meeting of the UN security council, Rishi Sunak hosted the Ukrainian ambassador at Downing Street, with a national minute’s silence planned for 11am on Friday.
Sunak was due to discuss Ukraine with leaders from other G7 nations in a virtual meeting on Friday, where he will offer UK support to other countries wishing to provide military jets to the country, the key request of its president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
In a TV interview before the anniversary Johnson, who was in No 10 when the invasion began and offered vehement early support to Zelenskiy, reiterated his call for the UK to directly give advanced fighters to Ukraine.
“What the Ukrainians want is F-16s,” he told Sky News. “As it happens, we don’t have F-16s but we do have Typhoons. I think there’s an argument for the UK breaking the ice and giving them some Typhoons. If it’s a question of training people up to use those machines – we can do that.”
In a lengthy interview, Johnson said it would be a “historic mistake” if China were to supply Russia with any weaponry, saying: “Why does China want to be contaminated by association with Putin, who has revealed himself to be this gangster and adventurer?”
In his necessarily more constrained comments released before the anniversary, Sunak called for greater international efforts to assist Ukraine, while giving few details.
“For Ukraine to win this war – and to accelerate that day – they must gain a decisive advantage on the battlefield,” he was to tell G7 leaders, according to extracts released by No 10. “This must be our priority now. Instead of an incremental approach, we need to move faster on artillery, armour and air defence.
“The coming weeks will be difficult for Ukraine, but they will also be difficult for Russia. They are overreaching once again. So now is the time to support Ukraine’s plan to re-arm, regroup, and push forward.”
At Downing Street on Thursday evening, Sunak was hosting the Ukrainian ambassador, Vadym Prystaiko, as well as military personnel from 10 nations involved in Operation Interflex, a mass effort to train Ukrainian forces.
In New York, as well as addressing the security council, Cleverly was due to meet his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, as well as António Guterres, the UN secretary general.
“When Putin invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, he expected his brutal assault to succeed and international support to crumble within weeks. He has been proved gravely wrong,” Cleverly was to tell the security council.
“Ukraine is turning the tide and Putin is losing. One year into this terrible war, our support will continue for as long as it takes.”
The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, marked the anniversary by saying UK support for Ukraine “is as firm and unstinting today as it was on that dark day one year ago”.
“When I visited President Zelenskiy in Kyiv recently, I was deeply moved by the way people there are continuing with their lives,” he said. “Despite the appalling suffering being inflicted upon them, they remain steadfast and united.”
