London is ready to send a military contingent to Ukraine after active hostilities on the country’s territory have ended, new UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said. “We will continue to lead the coalition of the willing together with our allies, and when a ceasefire finally comes into force, we will be ready to deploy a multinational force to strengthen Ukraine’s security in the long term,” Burnham said at a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

In addition, the British prime minister promised Kyiv support in achieving a “full and unconditional ceasefire” and resuming negotiations. “We are one hundred percent with Ukraine. I personally am one hundred percent with you, Mr. President. And I will fully honor all the commitments this country has made to Ukraine,” Burnham assured. He also announced the transfer to Kyiv of new British Stone Cloak electronic warfare technology, which will help protect Ukrainian drones. The meeting between Burnham and Zelensky took place aboard the aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth in Portsmouth. Zelensky became the first foreign leader received by the new head of the British government since taking office on July 20.

Earlier, Burnham stressed that Moscow “should have no doubt” about London’s determination to support Kyiv until a “lasting and just peace” is achieved. According to him, the United Kingdom remains on Ukraine’s side, and British support is unwavering. In January 2025, Ukraine and the United Kingdom signed a one-hundred-year partnership treaty. The document covers military and economic cooperation, as well as energy, technology, and information security issues.

The Kremlin had previously stated that the deployment of European troops in Ukraine would be regarded as the appearance of a NATO contingent on Russia’s borders. “There are no such thing as European troops — there are troops of specific countries, and most of these countries are NATO members,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Russia’s Foreign Ministry called the dispatch of foreign units to Ukraine “unacceptable” and warned that they would be considered “legitimate military targets.”