Volodymyr Zelensky’s choice to make the UK his second foreign visit since the start of the war speaks to the relationship that Boris Johnson and his successors have built with the Ukrainian leader. It also speaks to the reality that the UK is the second largest donor of military equipment to Ukraine. Britain has given nearly £2.3bn in support to Ukraine so far, and that figure is expected to increase.
Rishi Sunak has announced that the UK will start training Ukrainian marines, as well as Ukraine’s pilots to fly more sophisticated jets. But Zelensky was really in the UK to ask for the jets themselves. The Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, is investigating whether jets could be part of a “long-term solution”. The problems seem to be that we don’t have enough jets to give, they might not be the right ones for the Ukrainians and handing them over risks provoking Russia. The former Nato general secretary, George Robertson, told Andrew Marr on LBC yesterday that there were “formidable obstacles” to sending jets to Ukraine.
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