The first foreign leader to meet with the new British Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, is the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenski. They will have a meeting today at the naval base in Portland, in Dorset, in the English Channel, where 200 Ukrainian soldiers are undergoing a three-week course in mine clearance operations.
Zelenski arrives in the UK just a day after Ukraine attacked an Iranian ship carrying weapons from Russia to Iran in the Caspian Sea, of which both countries are neighbors. According to the Tehran government, an Iranian citizen died in the action. The Kiev government has stated that it is targeting the transfer of Russian arms to Iran, which is at war with the US. The hostility between the two countries stems from the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran has supplied Russia with thousands of drones and the technology to manufacture them, which Russia has been using to bomb Ukrainian cities since late 2022.
Although the agenda of the meeting between Burnham and Zelenski has not been made public, the British government has stated that both leaders will discuss the UK's support for Ukraine. In this regard, Burnham will announce that London will transfer technology and share intellectual property rights with Kiev so that the Ukrainian Armed Forces can interfere with the guidance systems of Russian missiles. The decision seems to be due to the fact that the US is not transferring Patriot anti-missile missiles to Ukraine. It is also a further step in Europe's strategy of providing Ukraine not only with weapons but also with technology and financial resources so that the country can organize its own defense systems according to its needs.
The meeting marks another step in Burnham's adoption of a policy continuity from his predecessor, Keir Starmer, in foreign policy. Ukraine was the only country Burnham mentioned in his speech when he took office last Monday, and this weekend his government has sent a series of signals of closeness to the United States. Defense Minister Wes Streeting stated yesterday, just before Zelenski's visit was announced, that "when history is written, Europe will thank President Donald Trump for forcing us out of our complacency and standing up". According to The Times, London wants to encourage US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who seems to have strong support from Trump, to visit the country.