Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky hugs Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer upon arrival to attend a bilateral meeting in central London on March 1, 2025, ahead of a European leader’s summit the following day. (Photo by AFP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received a warm welcome on Saturday from UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in addition to a $2.8 billion loan, a day after his meeting with US President Donald Trump turned into a showdown.
Starmer told Zelensky that the British people love the former actor-turned-politician and that he is “very, very welcome here.”
“Well, let me just say that you’re very, very welcome here in Downing Street, and as you heard from the cheers on the street outside, you have full backing across the United Kingdom,” Starmer claimed.
In the US, Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio humiliated Zelensky on Friday, saying the Ukrainian president is gambling with the lives of not only the Ukrainian people, but also the rest of the world, by refusing to accept the Americans’ proposed terms for peace with Russia.
Zelensky responded to them, saying he had expected more support from the Americans, claiming he put the Ukrainian servicemen’s lives on the line for them.
The meeting came after the Trump administration shocked its Western partners by holding the first high-level US talks with Moscow since the war between Russia and Ukraine broke out just over three years ago.
In Britain, however, Starmer, who has repeatedly vowed to give “unwavering support” to Ukraine, granted Zelensky a hefty loan worth $2.8 billion for the Kiev forces to continue the military campaign against the advancing Russian troops.
Our agreement “will enhance Ukraine’s defense capabilities and will be repaid using revenues from frozen Russian assets,” the Ukrainian president said in a tweet posted on X, formerly Twitter.
“This is true justice – the one who started the war must be the one to pay,” Zelensky said.
The money from the loan will be “directed toward weapons production in Ukraine,” he added.
Zelensky thanked the UK government for funding a factory in Ukraine to produce weaponry for Ukrainian forces to fight against Russian troops.
Expressing appreciation for the UK government and people for their “tremendous” support since the onset of the war, the president noted his satisfaction “to have such strategic partners and to share the same vision of what a secure future should look like for all.”
Zelensky is scheduled to meet with the British monarch, King Charles, at Sandringham on Sunday in a rare and dramatic sign of the royal family’s support for the war against Russia.
After the Sunday meeting, Zelensky is scheduled to take part in a summit with leaders from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Commission.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and more than a dozen countries, including France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, and the Netherlands, have been invited to London to discuss the Ukraine war against Russia.
Last month, Vance delivered a divisive speech at a high-level security conference in Munich, Germany, revealing the deep friction among members of NATO.
International affairs experts say Vance’s revealing speech at the Munich Security Conference, which was supposed to focus on how to support Kiev in Ukraine’s war against Russia, unexpectedly ended Washington’s decades-long alliances with European capitals.
After Vance’s speech, European leaders started to reflect and confer with one another on the future of transatlantic alliances under Trump’s unpredictable leadership.
