Prime Ministers Office 10 Downing Street
Mr President, Mr Prime Minister, Mr Chairman, Honourable Members of the Rada
I come from the worlds oldest Parliament to address the worlds bravest.
And it is an honour to do so.
Every Parliamentarian serving in a democratically elected chamber treasures the ideal of freedom.
Your courage is defending it.
Even as the enemy came within 20 kilometres of this Chamber
with many of you personally targeted
you refused to be daunted.
You continued to sit and do your duty - as you have throughout this war.
Because this is where you express the sovereignty and independence
for which your people are prepared to sacrifice everything.
This is where you are keeping alive the cause of democracy
in defiance of the gravest threat we have faced this century.
So on behalf of Britain and all your allies:
Thank you.
Slava Ukraini.
President Zelensky, you are an inspiration, and, Volodymyr, I am proud to call you a friend.
President John F Kennedy said of the great Winston Churchill that he:
Mobilised the English language and sent it into battle.
Volodymyr, you have done the same
and English isnt even your first language!
No leader this century has done more to unite liberal democracies in the defence of our values.
Thank you.
Above all, let me pay tribute to the people of Ukraine.
I first came to Ukraine ten years ago, in the year of the Maidan protests.
I remember the sense of nervous hope
as Ukraine looked towards a future as a sovereign European democracy.
And in each of my visits since this war began
even amidst all the rubble and destruction
the people Ive met are more determined than ever to realise that dream.
The soldiers who even now fight to the last breath for every inch of ground.
The pilots making stunning blows against Russias Black Sea fleet.
The gunners beating impossible odds to defend your skies.
The engineers who defeated darkness during the most difficult winter in your history.
And the ordinary people of Ukraine, who have endured
more than anyone should ever have to bear.
Rockets and bombs deliberately aimed at homes and hospitals, shelters, and schools.
Torture, rape, children kidnapped.
You have met this depravity with bravery and defiance.
With your unique, unbreakable Ukrainian spirit.
And all of us in the free world, salute you.
We meet today at a difficult moment in the struggle for Ukraines freedom.
As always during conflict, there will be difficult moments.
But we must prepare for this to be a long war.
But I believe there is hope for us in the echoes of Britains own history.
If 1940 was our finest hour
.and Ukraines was two years ago as you resisted the Russian invasion
then perhaps today is more like 1942.
That was a point in the middle of the war
when progress on the battlefield was hard
the defence industry was under severe strain
and populations were becoming weary.
It must have been hard to see the light ahead.
But they stood firm.
And although they did not know it then
for all the setbacks and difficulties that still lay before them
that was the moment the tide began to turn, and victory became assured.
I believe that the same will be true of this moment.
In the end, history tells us that democracies who endure will always prevail.
Putin cannot understand
that while you can kill individuals and destroy buildings
no army can ever defeat the will of a free people.
And that is why Ukraine will win.
Think of what you have already achieved.
Putin believed he could subjugate Ukraine by force in a matter of weeks.
Instead, with every rocket he fires the Ukrainian people become ever more determined
and their sense of nationhood becomes stronger still.
Russias military vastly outnumbers Ukrainian forces.
Yet you have already regained half of the occupied territory.
You have held the East, reopened vital shipping lanes to help feed the world
and increasingly made Crimea a vulnerability for Russia, not a strength.
These victories show: Russia can be beaten in its war of aggression.
Its on track to lose nearly half a million men.
Putin has faced an attempted coup
been indicted as an international war criminal
presides over an economy severely weakened by sanctions
and has succeeded in persuading countries across Europe
to significantly increase their defence spending.
He is now reduced to begging Iran and North Korea for weapons
and desperately sacrificing hundreds of thousands more men
in the hope that Ukraine will yield, or its friends might walk away.
Well, Ukraine will not yield.
And the United Kingdom will never walk away.
From the very beginning
the British people spontaneously flew the Ukrainian flag and I tell you that it flies still.
They felt moved to show solidarity with people theyve never met
In a country most have never visited
Because of our shared faith in freedom, fairness and democracy.
We welcomed Ukrainian refugees with open hearts.
We trained tens of thousands of their Ukrainian comrades in arms.
we led the way in delivering
Helicopters, ships, tanks, and armoured vehicles
Air defences and electronic weapons systems
Planeloads of anti-tank missiles like the NLAWs and Javelins
Storm Shadows to reach behind enemy lines and defend against aggression in the Black Sea.
Humanitarian and economic support.
And the strongest set of sanctions ever to debilitate Russias economy.
Im proud that weve provided over 9bn of support so far.
But I want to go further still.
Today, President Zelensky and I agreed a new partnership between our two countries
designed to last a hundred years or more.
Our partnership is about defence and security.
It is about the unique ties between our people and cultures.
It will build back a better and brighter future for Ukraine.
To attract new investment in jobs and homes
To fund English language training for the Ukrainian people
as you make English the language of business and diplomacy.
And it will hold Russia accountable for their war crimes.
Because Russia must pay to rebuild what they have destroyed.
Perhaps above all, it will support Ukraine to complete the historic journey you have chosen
to becoming a free, independent democracy at the heart of Europe.
Ours is the unbreakable alliance:
The nezlamni allianz.
First, we will help you win the war.
Russia thinksthat they will outlast us; that our resolve is faltering.
It is not.
In each of the last two years, we sent you 2.3bn of military aid.
This year, we are going to increase that
with the biggest single defence package so far
worth 2.5bn.
This package will include:
More air defence equipment, more anti-tank weapons, more long-range missiles
Thousands of rounds more ammunition and artillery shells
And training for thousands more soldiers
Now in total, the UK will have provided almost 12bn of aid to Ukraine.
So be in no doubt:
We are not walking away.
Putin will never outlast us.
We are here for Ukraine as long as it takes.
But the best way to make sure Ukraine has the weapons it needs
is to help Ukraine to produce those weapons themselves.
So our second action is to work with you to massively increase defence industrial production.
I believe this will be a source of huge economic strength and value for Ukraine in the future.
So even as the UK donates more equipment
we will help make you the armoury of the free world.
British companies like BAE Systems and AMS are already supporting your armed forces from within Ukraine.
And we will go further.
Starting today with 200m to manufacture thousands of new drones
both here in Ukraine and in the UK.
This is the single largest package of drones given to Ukraine by any nation.
Thirdly, todays agreement supports your historic choice to join NATO.
Because I believe that Ukraines rightful place is in NATO.
But this isnt just about how NATO benefits Ukraine.
Its about how Ukraine benefits NATO.
Your understanding of modern war comes not from a textbook but the battlefield.
Your armed forces are experienced, innovative, and brave.
Ukraine belongs in NATO and NATO will be stronger with Ukraine.
Last years Vilnius Summit made important steps towards membership.
And I want us to be even more ambitious at the Washington Summit this June.
And we made you a solemn promise
along with 30 other countries
to provide new, bilateral security assurances.
Today, the UK is the first to deliver on that promise.
President Zelensky and I have just signed a new security agreement.
If Russia ever again invades Ukraine, the UK will come to your aid with swift and sustained security assistance.
We will provide modern equipment across land, sea, and sky
Sanction Russias economy
And work closely