British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will deliver a video address to the Ukrainian parliament, in what will be the first step for a Western leader since the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, during which he will announce additional British military aid to Kiev worth 300 million pounds.
The British Cabinet said in a statement Monday evening that Johnson will tell Ukrainian lawmakers in his speech, which will begin at 10 am on Tuesday (09:00 GMT), “This is your hour of glory.”
“When my country was threatened with invasion during the Second World War, our Parliament, like yours, continued to sit during the conflict, and the British people showed so much unity and determination that we remember our period of great peril as the hour of our glory.”
Zelensky with Johnson in Kyiv (AFP)
According to the statement, the Prime Minister will announce in his speech a new military aid package for Kiev worth 300 million pounds (357 million euros), including in particular defensive military equipment.
So far, Britain has provided Ukraine with five thousand anti-tank missiles and five air defense missile systems with more than 100 missiles and 4.5 tons of explosives.
According to Downing Street, the United Kingdom will provide Ukraine in the coming weeks with drones “to provide logistical support to the isolated armed forces.”
In his speech to the Ukrainian parliament, Johnson will stress that the UK is “proud to be part of the Friends of Ukraine”.
In doing so, Johnson will become the first Western leader to address the Ukrainian parliament since the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine on February 24.
On April 9, Johnson made a surprise visit to Kyiv and walked the deserted streets of the capital alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
At the end of April, London announced that it would “very soon” reopen its embassy in Kyiv, having moved it to Lviv, the city in western Ukraine ahead of the Russian military operation.
