Andy Burnham pledges continued support for Ukraine ahead of Zelensky visit

Andy Burnham has vowed the UK will continue its “unwavering” support for Ukraine ahead of his meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday.

Zelensky will be the prime minister’s first international visitor since he took office a week ago, and No 10 said it “shows the strength of the relationship between our two countries”.

They will visit a naval base where Burnham will announce that the intellectual property behind the UK’s new “Stone Cloak” electronic warfare system will be shared, allowing Ukraine to produce the technology at scale.

The Prime Minister said: “The UK stands shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine and our support remains unwavering. Russia should have no doubts about our determination and we will not back down until a long-lasting and just peace is achieved for Ukraine.”

He added: “Stone Cloak is the best British innovation and has proven itself on the front lines and will be vital to keeping us safe in both countries.”

Electronic signal jammers are the size of a tablet computer and are designed to prevent detection of the drones they are attached to.

The Ministry of Defense has already provided thousands of devices to Ukrainian forces to support drone operations.

Following its deployment in Ukraine, the technology will be built into Britain’s next-generation long-range weapons, Downing Street said.

He said this would include Project Brakestop, a government program to develop low-cost cruise missiles, which are self-propelled guided weapons that fly like regular airplanes for most of their flights.

During Monday’s visit, the two leaders will also meet more than 200 Ukrainian military personnel who spent the last three weeks participating in a naval exercise in the United Kingdom.

Exercise Sea Breeze aims to strengthen combat capabilities and countermeasures against mines in the Black Sea.