David Cameron, the new Foreign Secretary, paid his first business visit to Ukraine, meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.
Mr. Cameron reaffirmed the UK’s support for Ukraine, offering to stay for “however long it takes.”
He committed to keeping Britain’s “moral, diplomatic, economic, but above all, military support”.
Mr. Zelenksy praised Cameron for the United Kingdom’s sustained support.
The Ukrainian president complimented Cameron on his new post and thanked him for his first working visit to Kyiv in his new role.
“This is very important, especially now, when the world is paying attention not only to the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine,” Zelensky said, alluding to the Middle East.
“We are grateful for the unwavering support of Ukraine from the United Kingdom. We are grateful for the warm welcome of Ukrainian citizens to the UK. And we are glad that you came to Ukraine,” he said.
Zelensky shared a brief video of the encounter on social media, during which the Foreign Secretary is heard stating, “I wanted this to be my first visit.”
“What I want to say by being here is that we will continue to give you the moral support, the diplomatic support, the economic support, and above all, the military support that you need not just this year and next year but however long it takes,” Mr. Cameron said.
The former UK prime minister added: “I’ve had some disagreements with Boris Johnson; we’ve known each other for 40 years, but his support for you was the finest thing he and his government did.”
Cameron’s new position represents his first return to the cabinet table in more than seven years.
In a dramatic revamp of Rishi Sunak’s cabinet on Monday, he succeeded James Cleverly, who was promoted to home secretary to take over from Suella Braverman.
