In London, Zelensky earns promise to train pilots on NATO fighter jets

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Britain on Wednesday to drum up help, winning a promise to train Ukrainian pilots in advanced fighter jets from the Western military alliance North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a major symbolic step in Western military support.

London was his first stop on only his second trip abroad since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year. A European Union diplomat said Zelensky would travel to Brussels on Thursday, where the European Union is holding a summit.

“The UK was one of the first to help Ukraine. And today I’m in London to personally thank the British people for their support and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for his leadership,” Zelensky posted on social media, with a photo of him and Sunak at Stansted Airport.

Zelensky will also meet King Charles III, address Parliament and visit Ukrainian troops training in Britain.

“President Zelensky’s visit to the UK is a testament to his country’s courage, determination and struggle, and a testament to the unbreakable friendship between our two countries,” Sunak said in a statement.

Sunak’s office has announced additional sanctions on Russia, as well as plans to speed up the supply of military equipment to Kiev. For the first time, Ukraine’s Air Force and Marines will be included in the British training programme.

“The training will ensure that pilots are capable of flying sophisticated NATO-standard fighters well into the future,” he said.

That appeared to signal a notable shift in Western support, as countries have so far refrained from supplying fighter jets or other weapons capable of striking deep into Russia.

The statement gave no timeframe for the training, and British officials said teaching pilots to use British jets takes years. But the first such engagement signals an endorsement of a long-term security relationship with Kiev and could pave the way for allies to send planes.

Last month, Britain became the first Western country to pledge advanced tanks to Kiev. It only offered 14, but within two weeks the United States and its European allies promised several, ending months of debate.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who has come under heavy criticism for allegedly slow approval of tank deliveries, said the arms supply should be coordinated confidentially rather than announced by individual countries.

“What undermines our unity is a public competition to outdo each other,” he told the lower house of parliament, according to a manuscript of his speech.