Zelenskyy visits Britain as Prime Minister Andy Burnham signals more support for Kyiv

By — Jill Lawless, Associated Press Jill Lawless, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/zelenskyy-visits-britain-as-prime-minister-andy-burnham-signals-more-support-for-kyiv Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Zelenskyy visits Britain as Prime Minister Andy Burnham signals more support for Kyiv World Jul 27, 2026 11:58 AM EDT LONDON (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived Monday in England for a meeting with Prime Minister Andy Burnham, a visit the British leader said is intended to signal the country's "unwavering" support for Kyiv. WATCH: How volunteers with 3D printers make weapons for Ukraine Zelenskyy's visit is the first by a foreign leader since Burnham took office a week ago. His predecessor, Keir Starmer, was in Kyiv less than two weeks ago in his last overseas trip before leaving office. Burnham will be the fifth British prime minister to deal with Zelenskyy since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. "Russia should be in no doubt of our resolve, and we will not back down until we achieve long lasting and just peace for Ukraine," said Burnham, who has spent the past nine years as mayor of Greater Manchester and has little foreign policy experience. The trip to a naval base in Portsmouth on England's south coast comes a day before Zelenskyy is expected to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington. Zelenskyy posted on X that he had arrived in Britain for the meeting with Burnham "as well as with our warriors" in the U.K. He and Burnham will meet more than 200 Ukrainian military personnel who have spent three weeks in Britain for an exercise aimed at strengthening their fighting capabilities and measures to counter mines in the Black Sea, the U.K. government said. The U.K. will give Ukraine the intellectual property behind its new "Stone Cloak" electronic warfare system, which is capable of jamming Russian air defenses to stop drones from being detected, Burnham's office said. Ukraine has expanded its campaign of frequent drone attacks deep inside Russia that have targeted oil facilities, military factories and, most recently, logistical centers, bringing the war home to millions of Russians and raising pressure on President Vladimir Putin. The raids have shattered Putin's narrative of the conflict as something that doesn't affect the lives of ordinary people in his country. But he has remained undeterred and Russia has ramped up its aerial campaign, regularly bombarding Ukraine with missiles and drones. Russia and Ukraine exchange more drone attacks Russia again attacked Ukraine overnight with 147 long-range drones, according to the Ukrainian air force, which said it intercepted or jammed 123 of them. In Zaporizhzhia, one person was killed and two injured in attacks on the city that damaged a high-rise residential building and several private residences overnight, according to regional administration head Iv