Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, met with Rishi Sunak, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, on Monday and expressed his optimism that a swift agreement could be reached to obtain fighter jets from Western allies.
At a meeting at the prime minister’s rural home northwest of London, Zelensky stated that the two discussed the matter.
Later, he declared that he was “very positive” about forming a “jets coalition” to fight Russia and that a decision will be made “in the nearest time.”
“You will hear some I think very important decisions,” he said in English but added that “a little bit more” work was needed until then.
Zelensky, on only his second trip outside since the conflict started, delivered a widely praised speech to the UK parliament in February in which he called for Western jets.
Prior to an anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive, his trip to the capitals of Europe, which began last week, has helped Ukraine obtain more commitments from France and Germany of military assistance.
But deploying Kyiv contemporary fighter jets has thus far been off limits for NATO nations.
However, Sunak affirmed that as part of its assistance, Britain would assist Ukraine in developing “combat-ready pilots.”
“We’re ready to implement those plans in relatively short order,” he told reporters.
Sunak said he would talk to other countries’ leaders about aircraft support at the upcoming Council of Europe and G7 meetings this week.
His Downing Street office meanwhile confirmed that Britain would in the coming months send “hundreds” of both air defence missiles and long-range attack drones with a range of more than 200 kilometres (125 miles) to fend off Russia’s invasion.
Last week, Britain became the first Western country to offer long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine, with its Storm Shadow rockets.
Dressed in his trademark military fatigues, Zelensky gave a bear hug to Sunak when he stepped off a Royal Air Force Chinook helicopter in the grounds of Chequers.
Before the talks, Zelensky tweeted that Britain was a “leader when it comes to expanding our capabilities on the ground and in the air”.
Sunak pledged Britain’s long-term security support for Ukraine.
“The frontlines of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s war of aggression may be in Ukraine but the fault lines stretch all over the world,” he said.
“It is in all our interest to ensure Ukraine succeeds and Putin’s barbarism is not rewarded.”