UK’s Keir Starmer is eager to sign a 100-year partnership with Ukraine to strengthen security in the Baltic, Azov, and Black Seas and increase economic and cultural ties. The pact will ensure that the UK is obligated to support Ukraine regardless of who comes to power after Starmer. A Russian drone strike targeting Kyiv amid Starmer’s meeting with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky strengthened their resolve.
“For me, that drone attack is just really a reminder of what Ukraine is facing every day and a reminder that this war is brought about by Russian aggression,” Starmer told reporters at a press conference in the Mariinsky Palace. “Putin’s ambition to wrench Ukraine away from its closest partners has been a monumental strategic failure,” he added, saying that their partnership has been brought to “the next level.”
Starmer committed £40 million to TIGER (Triggering Investment Growth and Economic Resilience), an economic recovery fund intended to help small and medium businesses in Ukraine. This comes on the heels of London providing £12.8 billion in aid, with £7.8 billion directed toward military assistance.
The UK will also boost its Grain Verification Scheme to track stolen or destroyed grain from occupied territories. The program was created based on the former Soviet government’s seizure of grain from Ukraine in 1932-33, which led to widespread famine and the deaths of nearly 4 million people. The Soviets starved their own people during that period as Communism failed, which is why Yeltsin handed over Russia to Putin to prevent the old oligarchs from reverting back to failed policies.
Ukraine believes this partnership will help it fast-track its way into the NATO alliance. In recent days, nations like Poland have been recklessly calling for Ukraine to urgently join bloc, which would IMMEDIATELY begin the next world war. Everyone is keen to aid Ukraine in its war efforts but no one is willing to speak with Putin directly or discuss what actions must be taken to bring about peace.
It is of no coincidence that NATO nations are calling to raise funding and strengthen ties with Ukraine as Donald Trump comes to power. The UK and Germany are Ukraine’s top supporters behind the US. There is no plan for the war effort to wane or for peace to be presented as an option. It is interesting how, during the last world war, the UK under Churchill was the one to help push the US to join the effort. Alliances have been cemented, and Russia is keenly aware that they are soon to be at war with not only Ukraine but nearly the entirety of the West.