THANK YOU
Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky thanks Sun readers for their support during his country’s brutal war with Russia
Mr Healey was in Ukraine to war Putin that Britain under Labour will still be 'Ukraine’s firmest friend'
UKRAINIAN president Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked Sun readers for their support during his country’s war with Russia.
He made his comments during his first meeting with Britain’s new Defence Secretary John Healey.
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Mr Healey was in Ukraine to warn Russian president Vladimir Putin that he must be in no doubt that Britain under Labour will still be “Ukraine’s firmest friend”.
It was then Mr Zelensky thanked Sun readers for their continued support for his nation’s war efforts, saying: “Tell them thank you from all of the people of Ukraine.”
Mr Healey embraced Mr Zelensky at Ukraine’s Navy Day celebrations yesterday, and promised him that all additional military aid promised in April will be delivered within 100 days of Labour taking power.
He told him the new government is “totally committed” to increasing UK defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP but the “defence of Britain starts in Ukraine”.
Mr Healey went to the Black Sea port of Odesa straight from Sir Keir Starmer’s first Cabinet meeting as a clear signal to the Kremlin that UK support would be “stepped up and sped up”.
He told The Sun: “At every stage since Putin launched his full-scale invasion, we have backed all the military aid.
“The extra funding had our full backing in opposition. We will now deliver it in government.”
And in a direct message to the Russian tyrant, he warned: “Putin is looking for Western nations to lose patience, to lose resolve.
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“He must know that Britain under Labour will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes to win. We will confront Russian aggression and we will pursue him for his war crimes.”
During his first official visit to Ukraine, which came within 48 hours of his appointment, Mr Healey said it was time to “step up” the “special leadership” Britain has shown since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
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Britain has pledged up to £3billion in assistance to Ukraine this year including desperately needed missiles, ammunition and vehicles.
Mr Healey said his first action when he arrived at the Ministry of Defence on Friday “was to ask ‘what more can I do to help, how can we speed up what we have already announced?’”
He said: “The Ukrainians have made a general complaint, that too often what has been promised by the West they have still not got.
“They can’t say that about the UK and I am determined that they won’t.
“So the package of support, the extra military aid that Rishi Sunak announced in April, that will now come with a 100-day guarantee under Labour.
“What was announced in April will be delivered by the end of 100 days of Labour government.”
He added that he had “directed the MoD to speed up the delivery of what was promised” by the previous Government.
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And he insisted it could be done, saying: “I am not going to make promises that we don’t keep, and that will be a hallmark of what we will start to see under a Labour government.”
Mr Healey said: “At the first Cabinet meeting, Keir said ‘we know trust in government must be regained’. We will do what we say and at the heart of this Labour government must be delivery.
“And politicians can make promises, but they demonstrate in the end, to people who must have confidence in their government, they demonstrate by what they do.
“So if delivery is at the heart of this government, within less than 24 hours after I was appointed I am on my way to Ukraine.
“And I am doing that because we have been, and we are proud of being, united behind Ukraine. We made that promise, just as we have throughout, we will continue our steadfast support for Ukraine.
“We are proud of the UK leadership on Ukraine and I’ve said I want to be proud of UK leadership in six months’ time.
"So I will play my part in what Keir Starmer gave as our marching orders — to put delivery at the heart of everything we do.”
What was announced in April will be delivered by the end of 100 days of Labour government.
John Healey
Mr Healey said his visit would be a “strong message on Ukraine, a strong message on defence and a strong message on a Keir Starmer government.”
And he said there was more to come, adding: “First of all we speed up delivery of what we have already announced.
“Secondly we will step up further and see what kit we can offer the Ukrainians.
“So I have the MoD scouring stockpiles, especially for the kit that the Ukrainians are using every day in this fight.”
DEFENCE BOOST
He promised Ukrainian troops more “heavy ammunition for the machine guns they use to shoot down Iranian drones”.
Mr Healey also promised an extra 90 Brimstone missiles to take out Russian tanks and armoured vehicles and 50 boats for marines to use for attacks in the Black Sea and raids across the Dnipro river.
And he promised ten more AS90 heavy artillery guns — and “the replacement barrels they need so that they can keep firing”.
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Mr Healey said: “The importance of this is we will do our bit with barrels, while the Americans provide the shells. We don’t need to do everything, we need to do what the Ukrainians most need from us.”
He added: “My being on a plane now, by demanding that action to speed up delivery, putting together a package of extra military aid to help Ukraine maintain the fight, demonstrates at the heart of our defence commitment is a recognition that the defence of Britain starts in Ukraine.”
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