'The UK Will Always Back Ukraine'

RISHI Sunak has promised Volodymyr Zelensky he will lead an international effort to secure fighter jets for Ukraine

- Martyn Brown

The pair greeted each other with a warm hug after the President arrived at the PM's Chequers country retreat in a Chinook helicopter.

Rishi Sunak also restated that Britain will not back down in its support for Ukraine after beefing up our military support.

The Prime Minister said the UK will send hundreds of air defence missiles and armed drones to help Ukrainian forces battle the Russian invaders.

This is on top of the Storm Shadow cruise missiles announced last week.

The move announced as Mr Zelensky made a surprise visit to the UK means Britain is going further than any other country in providing weapons with the potential to tip the battlefield in Ukraine's favour.

Mr Sunak vowed to push for more international aid when he attends the Council of Europe in Reykjavik today and the G7 gathering in Japan later this week.

Barbarism

He promised to create a "jets coalition" that would help provide aircraft support for Ukraine and said training on Western jets would begin "relatively soon".

But he warned the supply of planes was not straightforward.

was The Prime Minister said the UK committed Ukrainian pilots to training using using Nato-standard aircraft. The Daily Express understands Ukrainian pilots will receive basic training in Britain before going elsewhere to specialise in flying American F-16s.

Mr Sunak added: "This is a crucial moment in Ukraine's resistance to a terrible war of aggression they did not choose or provoke.