UK’s Burnham meets Zelensky, pledges ‘Stone Cloak’ tech for Ukraine’s drones
In his first meeting with a foreign leader, Andy Burnham pledges battlefield jamming technology ahead of Volodymyr Zelensky’s trip to Washington
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham held his first meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a UK naval base on Monday, pledging new “Stone Cloak” jamming technology to help safeguard Ukraine’s drones on the battlefield.
The meeting on the dockside and on board an aircraft carrier in the southern city of Portsmouth was Burnham’s first bilateral with a foreign leader and came ahead of a visit by Zelensky to Washington on Tuesday aimed at ending the four-year war with Russia.
“We are with Ukraine 100 per cent. I am personally with you 100 per cent, Mr President,” Burnham assured Zelensky after the two men, both wearing similar dark casual clothes, shook hands on the dockside.
Zelensky thanked Burnham for an “important signal of support” and said he had invited Burnham to visit Ukraine, after the leaders spoke by phone within hours of the new prime minister taking office.
Vowing to “honour every commitment this country has made to Ukraine,” Burnham said Britain was “going further” and was “providing new, home-grown jamming technology to protect Ukrainian drones” as both Moscow and Kyiv intensify drone and missile strikes.
“It will help them to hit their targets and help save Ukrainian lives. It also shows the kind of innovation our industries can deliver together,” Burnham said.