British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, during his visit to Kiev on Tuesday, reiterated the UK’s enduring support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. As reported by the Ukrainian side, the talks concerned, among other things, increase Kiev’s defense capabilities.

Wallace met the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, and that country’s new Minister of Defense, Oleksiy Reznikov, in Kiev. The British Ministry of Defense said in a series of tweets that Wallace reassured Britain of its continued support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and spoke of strengthening bilateral cooperation.

More details were revealed by Zelensky’s legal office, which said in the issued statement that the talks are related to the use of British funding to strengthen the Ukrainian Navy through the purchase of missiles and the construction of missile ships and a naval base in the Sea of ​​Azov. The issue of safe navigation through the Black and Azov seas, as well as the Ukrainian aspirations to join NATO, were also discussed.

Less than a month ago, The Times reported that the British government was in talks with Ukraine to sell its weapons, which would be the first such deal between the two countries. According to the newspaper, it is primarily a matter of Brimstone missiles. In turn, the Daily Mirror newspaper revealed, on Sunday, that a task force of the British armed forces of 600 soldiers is ready to deploy in Ukraine amid fears that the Russian forces gathered near the border are planning to invade the country.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson also confirmed, on Monday evening, his support for Ukraine. In a broader speech on British participation in the world at a reception by Lord Major in the City of London Borough, he hoped that other European nations would understand that “there is a choice between pumping more and more Russian hydrocarbons through a new giant or standing up for Ukraine and the defense on the issue of peace and stability.

After his visit to Ukraine, Ben Wallace is scheduled to come to Poland.

From London Bartłomiej Niedziński (PAP)

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