Rishi Sunak has visited Ukraine for the first time since becoming prime minister, meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the capital city, Kyiv.
The two world leaders discussed Ukraine’s military advances and reconstruction plans, and the British PM pledged a £50 million package to bolster Ukrainian air defence.
The package comprises 125 anti-aircraft guns and technology to counter Iranian-supplied drones, including dozens of radars intended to boost anti-drone electronic warfare capability.
The UK will also increase training for Ukrainian’s armed forces, sending expert army medics and engineers to the region to offer specialised support.
During his visit, Mr Sunak also laid flowers at a memorial for the war dead, lit a candle at a memorial for victims of the Holodomor famine, and met Ukrainian first responders including emergency personnel at a fire station.
A No 10 spokesperson confirmed the prime minister’s trip, saying: “The prime minister is in Ukraine today for his first visit to Kyiv to meet President Zelenskyy and confirm continued UK support.”
Mr Sunak tweeted: “Britain knows what it means to fight for freedom. We are with you all the way.”
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President Zelenskyy shared a short video on his official Telegram social media feed showing the UK PM getting out of a car and walking with him along a red carpet into the Mariinskyia Palace.
The two leaders appear to make a comment about the cold weather as they shake hands, with small flakes of snow falling all around.
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Wearing a flag pin showing the British and Ukrainian flags side-by-side, Mr Sunak is shown in a one-to-one meeting with Mr Zelenskyy, as well as a larger roundtable style meeting.
Image: Pic: Flickr/Number 10
A message from the Ukrainian leader accompanying the video said: “Since the first days of the war, Ukraine and the UK have been the strongest of allies.
“During today’s meeting, we discussed the most important issues both for our countries and for global security.
“Together we are stronger and we will achieve the desired results.”
Mr Zelenskyy also tweeted his thanks to Mr Sunak, writing: “With friends like you by our side, we are confident in our victory. Both of our nations know what it means to stand up for freedom.”
Image: Pic: Flickr/Number 10
Following his visit, Mr Sunak said it was “deeply humbling” to be in Kyiv, going on: “I am proud of how the UK stood with Ukraine from the very beginning. And I am here today to say the UK and our allies will continue to stand with Ukraine, as it fights to end this barbarous war and deliver a just peace.
“While Ukraine’s armed forces succeed in pushing back Russian forces on the ground, civilians are being brutally bombarded from the air. We are today providing new air defence, including anti-aircraft guns, radar and anti-drone equipment, and stepping up humanitarian support for the cold, hard winter ahead.
“It is deeply humbling to be in Kyiv today and to have the opportunity to meet those who are doing so much, and paying so high a price.”
Mr Sunak follows in the footsteps of former prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, pledging the UK’s ongoing support for Ukraine amid the Russian invasion.
The prime minister also used his appearance at the G20 this week to join with allies and other Western leaders to condemn Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
The visit comes after a missile hit a Polish village close to the Ukrainian border, killing two people, and initially sparking concerns Russia had struck a NATO member state.
Tensions have since been eased by the likely attribution of the hit to Ukrainian defence forces.
In the last week, Ukrainian forces say Russia has rained down more than 148 missile strikes on critical infrastructure, leaving approximately 10 million people without power.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says two Chinese citizens have been captured while fighting in eastern Ukraine.
He said his forces had fought six Chinese soldiers and two of them had been taken prisoner. He added he had ordered officials to obtain an explanation from Beijing.
“We have information that there are many more Chinese citizens in the occupier’s units than just two. We are now finding out all the facts,” he added.
China is an ally of Russia and has been accused of helping its war in Ukraine, though Beijing has repeatedly denied allegations that it has supplied Kremlin forces with weapons.
“Russia’s involvement of China in this war in Europe, directly or indirectly, is a clear signal that Putin is going to do anything but end the war,” Mr Zelenskyy said. “He is looking for ways to continue the war.”
Mr Zelenskyy described China as having joined Russia’s war against Ukraine and said he expected the US to react.
There was no immediate comment from China.
How many Chinese are actually fighting for Russia?
Were they volunteers – or mercenaries – who had signed up to fight in the Russian army on their own?
Alternatively, does the Chinese government sanction their involvement – or even encourage it? That would make the situation far more serious.
The capture of these Chinese nationals in Donetsk begs another question – how many Chinese are actually fighting for Russia? In his written post on social media platform Telegram, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said “there are many more Chinese citizens” other than these two.
Still, the Ukrainian president works hard to suggest the Chinese, officially at least, are blameless.
“Russia’s involvement of China in this war… is a clear signal that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is going to do anything but end the war,” he writes on Telegram.
This is a generous interpretation of China’s approach to the conflict, which is quite openly contradictory.
Fighters of various nationalities have joined Russia’s army during the war, often in return for promises of large sums of money. This does not represent official interventions by their home countries.
North Korea has also sent thousands of its troops to support Russia.
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1:49
‘This could be very, very embarrassing for China’
After Mr Zelenskyy’s announcement, the Ukrainian foreign minister said he had summoned China’s diplomat for an explanation, saying on social media the presence of Chinese citizens in Russia puts Beijing’s stance for peace into question.
He described the actions as “just”, adding: “war must return to where it came from”.
Meanwhile, regional governor Alexander Khinshtein said Russian forces are on the verge of reclaiming Kursk, months after Ukraine’s surprise incursion.
He claimed Russian forces had seized the settlement of Guyevo. Russian state news agency TASS said only two more settlements are left to recapture – Gornal and Oleshnya – to retake the entire region.
In a carefully written post on social media platform Telegram, Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the Russian army of deploying Chinese citizens on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine.
What about the proof? Well, the Ukrainian president says his security services captured two people from China in the Donetsk region – along with identity documents, personal data and their bank cards.
A video of a man in military fatigues who had been captured by Ukraine was pinned to the bottom of the statement.
We get snippets of a conversation where the alleged combatant seems to be talking about the events that led to his capture.
“When we arrived at the place… and then my commander.” The man gestures at the floor and ceiling, making shooting noises. “I was also injured.”
Image: Volodymyr Zelenskyy uploaded a video appearing to show a Chinese citizen in military uniform in Ukrainian custody
These details will make it difficult for the Chinese government to deny the incident out of hand, although they are highly unlikely to supply additional information.
Important details like, who are they? What function(s) do they fulfil in Ukraine’s occupied territories?
Were they volunteers – or mercenaries – who had signed up to fight in the Russian army on their own?
Alternatively, does the Chinese government sanction their involvement – or even encourage it?
The capture of these Chinese nationals in Donetsk begs another question – how many Chinese are actually fighting for Russia? In his post, Mr Zelenskyy said “there are many more Chinese citizens” other than these two.
Still, the Ukrainian president works hard to suggest the Chinese, officially at least, are blameless.
“Russia’s involvement of China in this war… is a clear signal that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is going to do anything but end the war,” he writes on Telegram.
This is a generous interpretation of China’s approach to the conflict, which is quite openly contradictory.
On one hand, Chinese President Xi Jinping describes China as a neutral party to the conflict, while simultaneously offering Mr Putin long-term political and economic support.
In fact, he described their partnership as a “no limits” one in a phone call with Mr Putin on the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Zelenskyy then, is making a point with this post – but he does not want to make the situation any worse.
The severity cannot be overstated, if an additional 50% tariffs are levied on all Chinese goods it will decimate trade between the world’s two biggest economies.
Remember, 50% would sit on top of what is already on the table: 34% announced last week, 20% announced at the start of US President Donald Trump’s term, and some additional tariffs left over from his first term in office.
In total, it means all Chinese goods would face tariffs of over 100%, some as high as 120%.
It’s a price that makes any trade almost impossible.
China is really the only nation in the world at the moment that is choosing to take a stand.
While others are publicly making concessions and sending delegations to negotiate, China has clearly calculated that not being seen to be bullied is worth the cost that retaliation will bring.
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6:50
Tariffs: Xi hits back at Trump
The real question, though, is if the US does indeed impose this extra 50% tomorrow, what could or would China do next?
There are some obvious measures that China will almost certainly enact.
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Further export controls on rare earth minerals (crucial for the development of high-tech products) are one example. China controls a huge proportion of the world’s supply, but the US would likely find workarounds in time.
Hiking tariffs on high-impact US products such as agricultural goods is another option, but there is only so far this could go.
The potentially more impactful options have significant drawbacks for Beijing.
It could, for instance, target high-profile American companies such as Apple and Tesla, but this isn’t ideal at a time when China is trying to attract more foreign investment, and some devaluation of the currency is possible, but it would also come with adverse effects.
Other options are more political and come with the risk of escalation beyond the economic arena.
In an opinion piece this morning, the editor of Xinhua, China’s state news agency, speculated that China could cease all cooperation with the US on the war against fentanyl.
This has been a major political issue for Mr Trump, and it’s hard to see it would not constitute some sort of red line for him.
Other options touted include banning the import of American films, or perhaps calling for the Chinese public to boycott all American products.
Anything like this comes with a sense that the world’s two most powerful superpowers might be teetering on the edge of not just a total economic decoupling, but cultural separation too.
There is understandably serious nervousness about how that could spiral and the precedent it sets.