Keir Starmer has travelled to Kyiv to meet Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to emphasise Labour’s commitment to backing action to arm the country against a renewed offensive by Russia. The Labour leader said the UK’s position on Ukraine would remain the same if there was a change of government next year, as he visited the suburbs of Irpin and Bucha where Russia committed significant atrocities last year.
“It’s incredible to see the evidence of atrocities that I’ve seen this morning. Photographs of civilians in the outskirts of Kyiv blindfolded, with their arms tied behind their back,” Starmer told Reuters. He said he had travelled to Ukraine to express solidarity and to emphasise the need to pursue justice and reparations. “There has to be justice for this. There has to be justice in The Hague and there has to be proper reparation in the rebuilding of Ukraine,” he said.
Speaking after his conversation with Zelenskiy, Starmer described it as a “constructive meeting” that touched on new military support Ukraine needs, as Kyiv continues to urge western leaders to give it fighter jets. “We spoke about the need for that justice to cover both the use of Russian state assets for reconstruction and the need for there to be prosecutions for war crimes,” Starmer said. “I was able to tell him that should there be a change of government when we have a general election here, the support for Ukraine will remain the same.”
Starmer said Zelenskiy was very concerned about whether Labour would continue support through weapons and training. “I stressed that the Labour party supports and would maintain the defence, training, and technological support the current UK government is providing,” he said. “I’ve said throughout this conflict there will be no difference between the political parties on this, so we will continue to work with the government to see what further support we can provide.”
The trip is the start of an international charm campaign for the Labour leader, during which he will visit the Munich security conference over the weekend for meetings with world leaders. Starmer has previously visited the Polish border and British troops in Estonia to affirm Labour’s “unshakeable” commitment to Nato.
