KYIV, Ukraine
Britain's Foreign Secretary David Cameron travelled to wartime Kyiv and met President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for talks on his first working trip abroad, the Ukrainian leader said on Thursday.
Former prime minister Cameron,
who was named as Britain's new foreign minister on Monday, said in a video
posted by Zelenskiy's office that he wanted to underscore London's support for
Ukraine.
Zelenskiy said he was grateful
for the gesture, which comes amid a conflict in the Middle East that he said
had drawn global attention away from Ukraine's war with Russia, which is now in
its 21st month and and has no end in sight.
"The world is not so
focused on the battlefield situation in Ukraine, and this dividing of the focus
really does not help," he said.
The show of support comes as
Ukraine is watching closely for any sign that vital Western military and
financial assistance for Kyiv is flagging after its much-vaunted
counteroffensive against Russian forces failed to yield a major breakthrough.
Britain has been a close ally
of Ukraine throughout the full-scale war launched by Russia in February 2022.
"What I want to say by
being here is that we will continue to give you the moral support, the
diplomatic support... but above all the military support that you need not just
this year and next year, but however long it takes," Cameron said.
He added that Britain would
work with its allies "to make sure the attention is here in Ukraine".
Ukrainian Foreign Minister
Dmytro Kuleba said he and Cameron held talks at his ministry.
"The UK remains steadfast
in providing Ukraine with weapons, increasing their co-production, and ridding
the Black Sea of Russian threats," Kuleba said on X.
Ukraine is trying to build up
a Black Sea shipping corridor to revive its seaborne exports, defying threats
from Moscow which quit a U.N.-brokered deal in July that had allowed some food
exports to flow despite the war.
The Ukrainian statements did
not say when the talks took place. Strict security measures in place because of
the war mean details of visits by foreign dignitaries are sometimes released
only sometime after they have happened.
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