UK’s Starmer to sign 100-year treaty with Zelenskyy in Ukraine

KYIV — U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has arrived in Ukraine to pledge more weapons and promise British support for the next 100 years, as the war against invading Russian forces enters a critical phase.

Almost three years since Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion began, Donald Trump is due to return to the White House as U.S. president and has pledged to end the war in short order.

At the same time, political forces sympathetic to Moscow are gaining ground across Europe — in countries including Austria, Romania and Germany.

As he heads for talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Starmer will sign a “100-year partnership” treaty with Ukraine, aimed at strengthening security in the Black Sea and the Baltic, and building economic and cultural ties between the two countries.

“Putin’s ambition to wrench Ukraine away from its closest partners has been a monumental strategic failure,” Starmer said in comments released by No. 10. “Instead, we are closer than ever, and this partnership will take that friendship to the next level.”

Trump’s return casts a shadow over the British leader’s visit to Ukraine, his first since winning power last July. Ukraine’s allies worry that the United States may be about to abandon Europe to fend for itself.

Ukraine has declared it’s willing to engage in potential discussions, with conditions, while other Western leaders, such as France’s Emmanuel Macron, have floated the idea of sending in European troops to keep the peace. Western officials remain skeptical about whether Putin is really interested in peace talks at all.

Starmer is also expected to unveil a new package of support for Ukraine’s immediate needs, including “lethal aid,” though the details are not yet clear.

The U.K. leader visited one of Ukraine’s major burns treatment centers at a hospital in Kyiv. He met medics and patients receiving treatment for injuries they suffered while fighting on the front line, as well as civilians wounded in the frequent Russian missile and drone attacks. 

In the intensive care unit, the prime minister saw people with burns to as much as 80 percent of their bodies. Later he saw a former soldier with red burn scars covering his back, left shoulder and arm, receiving treatment from a nurse helping to massage and stretch his skin. 

Speaking to media on the trip, Starmer described the injuries he saw as “a grim reminder of the high price Ukraine is paying.” 

Zelenskyy’s asks

Downing Street officials point out that Ukraine is now a cutting-edge military power, with highly trained armed forces and a technology sector that has been innovating at speed and testing its new kit on the battlefield for the past three years. That real-world experience of war will help Britain bolster its defenses too, the officials say.

The 100-year partnership spans joint work on science, technology and health care, as well as agriculture and even education. The treaty includes a new plan to tighten security in the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, and the Azov Sea. 

Britain has been working on a system to trace Ukrainian grain that has been stolen from Russian occupied areas and then sold on. The British-made database will be ready and shared with the Kyiv government in the coming weeks. There are also promises to collaborate on energy and critical minerals.

The 100-year treaty is a novel way to send a message at a sensitive moment.

But Ukraine wants much more. Zelenskyy has been asking for NATO membership for years as the best way to deter Putin and that still seems miles off. The question of what kind of security guarantees Ukraine’s backers are willing to provide will likely dominate the agenda when peace negotiations finally begin.

This story has been updated.