Ukrainian and UK defence ministers meet in Kyiv
Oleksii Reznikov, Ukrainian Defence Minister, met in Kyiv with Ben Wallace, UK Defence Minister, to discuss further training of the Ukrainian military in the UK and the transfer of long-range Storm Shadow missiles and other weapons to Ukraine.
Source: Ministry of Defence of Ukraine
Details: Reznikov said he discussed the NATO perspective of Ukraine in the context of the upcoming North Atlantic alliance summit in Vilnius with Wallace.
They also discussed Ukraine's vision of stabilising peace in Europe, using the peace formula of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the minister said.
Reznikov added that he and Wallace discussed the priorities of arming Ukraine to achieve victory, "especially regarding weapons that make it possible to defeat Russia at long distances, such as Storm Shadows".
The Minister of Defence of the UK noted that the Storm Shadow missiles were the first weapons of this type provided to Ukraine by partners.
Quote from Wallace: "Ukraine has received Storm Shadow missiles, which can be used at long ranges. These are among the first long-range missiles provided to Ukraine by its allies.
We provided this kind of weaponry because of Russia's continued use of its long-range weapons, which it uses to harm civilians and civilian critical infrastructure."
Quote from Reznikov: "We talked about the continuation of training of our military personnel on UK territory, about the main priorities and accents regarding these pieces of training.
We had the opportunity to shake hands with pilots trained in the UK who are already successfully using weapons called Storm Shadow."
Details: During the meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, the British Defence Minister expressed his commitment to visit Ukraine and keep up the communications with the military.
"I always enjoy visiting the [Ukrainian] capital, communicating not only with my counterpart but also with the military, discussing their plans and ambitions and how I can be more involved in helping implement these plans," Wallace said.
Background: Last week, the UK transferred Storm Shadow long-range missiles to Ukraine. Moreover, the UK government announced its intention to transfer hundreds of new attack drones to Ukraine with a flight range of over 200 km.
In addition, French President Emmanuel Macron hinted at a transfer of long-range missiles to Ukraine.
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