Keir Starmer visits Kyiv and makes vow over UK support for Ukraine

Keir parks his tanks on Rishi’s lawn: Starmer vows Britain’s staunch support for Ukraine will ‘remain the same’ if he becomes PM as Labour leader calls for Russian generals to face ‘justice’ in war crimes court on his first visit to Kyiv since invasion

• Sir Keir Starmer makes first visit to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began
• Labour leader vows UK’s support for Kyiv would ‘remain the same’ if he’s PM 

Sir Keir Starmer today vowed Britain’s staunch support for Ukraine would ‘remain the same’ should he become prime minister after a general election.

On his first visit to Kyiv since Russia’s invasion began last year, the Labour leader called for ‘justice’ for the embattled Ukrainian nation.

He demanded that Russian military leaders face court hearings in The Hague and for Ukraine to be handed reparations to help rebuild itself after the conflict.

Sir Keir met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after a tour of Irpin and Bucha on the outskirts of Kyiv.

Both areas are sites where numerous atrocities, including killings, were documented in the aftermath of the Russian withdrawal from the Ukrainian capital last April.

On his first visit to Kyiv since Russia’s invasion, Sir Keir Starmer called for ‘justice’ for the embattled Ukrainian nation

The Labour leader demanded Ukraine be handed reparations to help rebuild itself after the conflict

 Sir Keir vowed Britain’s staunch support for Ukraine would ‘remain the same’ should he become prime minister after a general election

Sir Keir met with Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelensky after his tour of Irpin and Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv

The Labour leader said it was ‘incredible to see the evidence of atrocities’

Sir Keir saw a heavily damaged residential building with the work of famous graffiti artist Banksy in Irpin

Speaking in Irpin, which saw heavy fighting in the first months of Vladimir Putin’s invasion attempt, the Labour leader said: ‘Should there be an election next year and a change of government, the position on Ukraine will remain the same.

‘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.

‘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.’

Sir Keir added it was ‘very important’ for him to have visited Ukraine and meet with the country’s people while ‘making it clear that support for Ukraine in the UK is united’.

‘Throughout the conflict, the Labour Party has stood united with the government in the UK to show our support for Ukraine,’ he continued.

Sir Keir previously met with Mr Zelensky in London last week

Sir Keir’s meeting with Mr Zelensky comes just over a week after they last met, when the Ukrainian President travelled to London to hold talks with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and address the Houses of Parliament. 

Mr Zelensky used that visit to reiterate his plea for Western nations to provide fighter jets to Ukraine in order to continue their battle against Mr Putin’s forces.

There are widespread expectations of spring offensive by Russia over the coming weeks.

Mr Zelensky’s visit to London represented a diplomatic coup for Mr Sunak, as it was only the second confirmed trip he had made outside of Ukraine since the war began.

After his talks with Mr Sunak, the Ukrainian President flew on the PM’s plane to Paris where he met with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

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