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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson paid a second surprise visit to Kyiv on Friday to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The visit was first announced on the Prime Minister’s Twitter page, and Fox News confirmed the information with Ukrainian authorities.
“Mr. President, Volodymyr, it’s good to be back in Kyiv,” read the post on the prime minister’s account, along with a photo of him and Zelenskyy.
In this image provided by the Press Office of the President of Ukraine, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy (right) and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pose during their meeting in downtown Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday June 17 2022, for a photo. (Press Office of the President of Ukraine via AP)
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Johnson’s office confirmed that the prime minister and Zelenskyy had discussed “Ukraine’s valiant fight against Russia” and proposed a British-led training program to help thousands of Ukrainian soldiers “continue their heroic defence”.
Johnson said Russian forces were “suffering heavy casualties” and pledged “the strategic endurance you will need.”
The training operation would train up to 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers for three weeks every 120 days, “using battle-hardened British Army expertise”.
The program aims to help Kyiv “accelerate their deployment, rebuild their armed forces and strengthen their resistance while continuing to defend their nation’s sovereignty against Russian invaders.”
International partners would also be invited to take part in the training programme.
“My visit today to the depths of this war is intended to send a clear and simple message to the Ukrainian people: the UK is with you and we will be with you until you ultimately prevail,” he said in a statement on Friday. “While Ukrainian soldiers fire British missiles in defense of their nation’s sovereignty, they are also doing so in defense of the very freedoms we take for granted.”
In this image provided by the Press Office of the President of Ukraine, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (second from left) meets with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy (third right) in Kyiv, Ukraine on Friday June 17, 2022 . (Press Office of the President of Ukraine via AP) ((Press Office of the President of Ukraine via AP)
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Johnson’s visit comes just a day after French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis also traveled to Kyiv.
Ukraine has garnered widespread support from Western nations after Russia’s illegal invasion in February, which poses the greatest security threat to Europe since World War II.
Johnson’s first visit in April was the G7’s first face-to-face meeting with Zelenskyy.
President Biden and Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are the only two G7 leaders yet to travel to Kyiv.
Fox News was unable to immediately reach the White House to comment on whether President Biden plans to travel to Ukraine in the future.
In this image provided by the Press Office of the President of Ukraine, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy (left) and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson walk after their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday June 17, 2022. (Press Office of the President of Ukraine via AP)
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After Boris’ first trip to Ukraine in April, then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki was emphatic in stating that the administration had no plans to send Biden to the war-torn country.
“It’s not in the plans of the President of the United States,” Psaki said. “We should all be relieved about that.”