Andy Burnham pledged to continue Britain’s ‘firm’ support for Ukraine ahead of his meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday.
Zelenskiy will be the prime minister’s first foreign visitor since he took office a week ago, and No 10 said: “This shows the strength of our relationship.”
They are scheduled to visit a naval base, where Burnham will announce that the intellectual property behind Britain’s new “Stone Cloak” electronic warfare system will be shared so that Ukraine can produce the technology at scale.
The Prime Minister said: “The UK stands shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine and our support is unwavering. Russia must not doubt our resolve and we will not back down until we achieve a lasting and just peace for Ukraine.”
He added: “Stone Cloak is the best of Britain’s own innovation, proven on the front lines and will be vitally important in protecting the security of both our countries.”
The electronic jammer is the size of a tablet computer and is designed to block detection by mounted drones.
The Ministry of Defense has already provided thousands of devices to bolster the Ukrainian military’s drone operations.
Downing Street said the technology would be built into Britain’s next-generation long-range weapons after being deployed in Ukraine.
He said this would include Project Brakestop, a government program to develop low-cost cruise missiles, self-propelled guided weapons that fly like regular aircraft for most of their flight.
During Monday’s visit, the two leaders will also meet more than 200 Ukrainian soldiers who have participated in maritime exercises in Britain over the past three weeks.
The Sea Breeze exercise aims to strengthen combat capabilities and counter-mine countermeasures in the Black Sea.
