Andy Burnham pledges continued support for Ukraine ahead of Zelensky visit

Andy Burnham has pledged to continue the UK’s “unwavering” support for Ukraine ahead of a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday.

Zelensky will become the prime minister’s first international visitor since he took office a week ago, which No 10 said “illustrates the strength of the relationship between the two nations”.

They will visit a naval base, where Burnham will announce the sharing of the intellectual property behind the UK’s new “Stone Cloak” electronic warfare system, enabling Ukraine to produce the technology at scale.

The prime minister said: “Britain stands with Ukraine, shoulder to shoulder, and our support remains unwavering. Russia should be in no doubt of our resolve, and we will not back down until we achieve long lasting and just peace for Ukraine.”

He added: “Stone Cloak is the best of homegrown British innovation and proven on the frontline, and it will be vital to protecting our security in both our countries.”

The electronic jammers are the size of a tablet computer, and are designed to block the detection of any drones it is fitted to.

The Ministry of Defence has already given thousands of the devices to Ukrainian forces to bolster their drone operations.

Downing Street said that following its deployment in Ukraine, the technology will be built into the UK’s next generation of long-range weapons.

It said this would include Project Brakestop, a government programme to develop low-cost cruise missiles – self-propelled guided weapons which fly like normal aircraft for much of their flight.

During Monday’s visit, the two leaders will also meet more than 200 Ukrainian military personnel who have spent the last three weeks taking part in a maritime exercise in the UK.

Exercise Sea Breeze is aimed at strengthening warfighting capabilities and counter-mine measures in the Black Sea.