British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was again on a trip to Kyiv on Friday, a surprise visit that comes a day after that of four European Union leaders.
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“I am very happy to see a great friend of our country, Boris Johnson, in Kyiv,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. “It’s good to be back in Kyiv,” Boris Johnson said on his Twitter account.
Boris Johnson was in Kyiv on April 9 and was the first head of state from a G7 country to visit Ukraine. Since then, London has provided Kyiv with particularly strong military support.
According to a statement from Mr Johnson’s office, the British Prime Minister has “offered to launch a comprehensive training program for Ukrainian armed forces that could train up to 10,000 soldiers every 120 days”.
“My visit today in the midst of war aims to send a clear and simple message to Ukrainians: the UK is on your side and will be with you until victory,” said Mr Johnson, quoted in the press release.
“That’s why I proposed to President Zelenskyy a comprehensive military training program that could change the equation of this war by channeling the most powerful forces, namely the determination of Ukrainians to win,” he added.
“Many days of war have proved it: Britain’s support for Ukraine is firm and resolute,” said Zelenskyy. “We have a common vision on how Ukraine can achieve victory,” he added.
Boris Johnson arrived in Kyiv the day after an unprecedented visit by French, German, Italian and Romanian leaders, all of whom, unlike the UK, are members of the European Union.
They said they were in favor of granting Ukraine candidate status for EU membership, as the European Commission did on Friday – a status requested by Kyiv that will lead to membership in the bloc soon.