Ukraine’s Zelensky to meet Rishi Sunak today in surprise UK visit ahead of major counteroffensive against Putin’s army

UKRAINIAN President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet Rishi Sunak in a surprise UK visit TODAY ahead of this week’s Council of Europe and G7 summits.

The hero President touched down in Britain this morning, before travelling to Chequers where he’ll hold talks with the PM.

At the grand 16th century estate, Mr Sunak will confirm Britain’s provision of hundreds of long-range air defence missiles to Ukraine.

Zelenskyy’s visit to the UK is one of several stops on a European tour.

Over the weekend the President met leaders in Italy and Germany where he sought further military support for his people.

Today the PM said: “This is a crucial moment in Ukraine’s resistance to a terrible war of aggression they did not choose or provoke.

“They need the sustained support of the international community to defend against the barrage of unrelenting and indiscriminate attacks that have been their daily reality for over a year.

“We must not let them down.”

Zelenskyy tweeted: “Today – London. The UK is a leader when it comes to expanding our capabilities on the ground and in the air.

“This cooperation will continue today. I will meet my friend Rishi.

“We will conduct substantive negotiations face-to-face and in delegations.”

At Chequers the PM will reaffirm the UK’s commitment to “total” support for Ukraine.

This includes the provision of military equipment, training for soldiers, economic support, tough sanctions against Putin’s cronies and long-term security assurances to guarantee Ukraine’s sovereignty in the future.

In the last year Britain has trained 15,000 Ukrainian, and in February the PM announced a new training programme for pilots to support their bid to build a new air force with F16 jets.  

The first cohort of Ukrainian pilots will touch down in the UK this summer to learn vital skills.

In 2022 Britain provided Zelenskyy £2.3bn worth of military support, with the PM vowing to sustain that level this year.

Equipment sent over this year includes a squadron of Challenger 2 main battle tanks, self-propelled guns, hundreds of armoured vehicles and long-range missiles including Starstreak and Storm Shadow.

Zelenskyy’s visit this week comes ahead of the Council of Europe summit in Iceland and the G7 Summit in Japan.

Mr Sunak will attend both, with his flight to Iceland taking off tomorrow morning.

Downing Street said the conferences will be a huge opportunity for Britain to rally support for Ukraine.

The PM will call for sustained global support for the Eastern European state, and will plead with world leaders to not give up on Zelenskyy until Putin is finally crushed.