London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Jan 17, 2026

Ukraine war: UK to send more military equipment, Johnson tells Zelensky

Ukraine war: UK to send more military equipment, Johnson tells Zelensky

The UK is to provide Ukraine with more military equipment, the prime minister has confirmed in a phone conversation with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Boris Johnson told Mr Zelensky more armoured vehicles, drones and anti-tank weapons would be sent to Ukraine, a Downing Street spokesman said.

Mr Zelensky thanked the PM for the training of more than 20 Ukrainian troops who arrived in the UK last week.

Ukraine was invaded by Russia two months ago this weekend.

Mr Johnson also confirmed the UK would be reopening its embassy in Kyiv next week, a move first announced yesterday.

The No 10 spokesman said this was a demonstration of "our support and solidarity with the Ukrainian people".

The Ukrainian soldiers receiving training in the UK are being instructed on how to use 120 armoured vehicles that will be supplied to the resistance effort against Moscow, the government has said.

President Zelensky updated Mr Johnson on the situation in the Donbas, where Russia has been concentrating its military efforts in recent days. Both leaders condemned ongoing attacks by Russian forces against civilian targets, including in Mariupol, Odessa and Lviv.


The prime minister told Mr Zelensky Russia would be held to account for its actions and that the UK government was helping to collect evidence of war crimes. He also updated the president on new UK sanctions against members of the Russian military, Downing Street said.

The two leaders discussed how the UK would work with partners to develop a long-term security solution for Ukraine and spoke about discussions taking place with other nations and groups to provide further financial support, including at a G7 finance ministers' meeting last Wednesday.

The two leaders met in Kyiv two weeks ago


They also agreed on the importance of establishing a ceasefire and humanitarian corridor to allow civilians to leave the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol. The talks came as Ukrainian officials said Russian forces had started attacking a steel plant in the battered port city, in an apparent bid to eliminate the last stand by Ukrainian defenders.

An estimated 1,000 civilians remain sheltered in the Azovstal plant alongside the remaining 2,000 fighters.

President Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin are both due to meet United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres in the coming week, with the long-awaited prospect of a humanitarian corridor to allow people to leave Mariupol expected to be on the agenda.

In a news conference in a Kyiv metro station later on Saturday, Mr Zelensky said he was "satisfied" with the level of military support coming from the UK.

"We want more than we're being given, but we're satisfied," he told reporters.

"We cannot refuse or reject anything during the war from the biggest military aid, which is coming from the United States and the United Kingdom.

"There are many other friends in Europe, but I'm talking about volumes of help and I'm grateful for it."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Prince Harry Returns to UK High Court as Final Privacy Trial Against Daily Mail Publisher Begins
Britain Confronts a Billion-Pound Wind Energy Paradox Amid Grid Constraints
The graduate 'jobpocalypse': Entry-level jobs are not shrinking. They are disappearing.
Cybercrime, Inc.: When Crime Becomes an Economy. How the World Accidentally Built a Twenty-Trillion-Dollar Criminal Economy
The Return of the Hands: Why the AI Age Is Rewriting the Meaning of “Real Work”
UK PM Kier Scammer Ridicules Tories With "Kamasutra"
Strategic Restraint, Credible Force, and the Discipline of Power
United Kingdom and Norway Endorse NATO’s ‘Arctic Sentry’ Mission Including Greenland
Woman Claiming to Be Freddie Mercury’s Secret Daughter Dies at Forty-Eight After Rare Cancer Battle
UK Launches First-Ever ‘Town of Culture’ Competition to Celebrate Local Stories and Boost Communities
Planned Sale of Shell and Exxon’s UK Gas Assets to Viaro Energy Collapses Amid Regulatory and Market Hurdles
UK Intensifies Arctic Security Engagement as Trump’s Greenland Rhetoric Fuels Allied Concern
Meghan Markle Could Return to the UK for the First Time in Nearly Four Years If Security Is Secured
Meghan Markle Likely to Return to UK Only if Harry Secures Official Security Cover
UAE Restricts Funding for Emiratis to Study in UK Amid Fears Over Muslim Brotherhood Influence
EU Seeks ‘Farage Clause’ in Brexit Reset Talks to Safeguard Long-Term Agreement Stability
Starmer’s Push to Rally Support for Action Against Elon Musk’s X Faces Setback as Canada Shuns Ban
UK Free School Meals Expansion Faces Political and Budgetary Delays
EU Seeks ‘Farage Clause’ in Brexit Reset Talks With Britain
Germany Hit by Major Airport Strikes Disrupting European Travel
Prince Harry Seeks King Charles’ Support to Open Invictus Games on UK Return
Washington Holds Back as Britain and France Signal Willingness to Deploy Troops in Postwar Ukraine
Elon Musk Accuses UK Government of Suppressing Free Speech as X Faces Potential Ban Over AI-Generated Content
Russia Deploys Hypersonic Missile in Strike on Ukraine
OpenAI and SoftBank Commit One Billion Dollars to Energy and Data Centre Supplier
UK Prime Minister Starmer Reaffirms Support for Danish Sovereignty Over Greenland Amid U.S. Pressure
UK Support Bolsters U.S. Seizure of Russian-Flagged Tanker Marinera in Atlantic Strike on Sanctions Evasion
The Claim That Maduro’s Capture and Trial Violate International Law Is Either Legally Illiterate—or Deliberately Deceptive
UK Data Watchdog Probes Elon Musk’s X Over AI-Generated Grok Images Amid Surge in Non-Consensual Outputs
Prince Harry to Return to UK for Court Hearing Without Plans to Meet King Charles III
UK Confirms Support for US Seizure of Russian-Flagged Oil Tanker in North Atlantic
Béla Tarr, Visionary Hungarian Filmmaker, Dies at Seventy After Long Illness
UK and France Pledge Military Hubs Across Ukraine in Post-Ceasefire Security Plan
Prince Harry Poised to Regain UK Security Cover, Clearing Way for Family Visits
UK Junk Food Advertising Ban Faces Major Loophole Allowing Brand-Only Promotions
Maduro’s Arrest Without The Hague Tests International Law—and Trump’s Willingness to Break It
German Intelligence Secretly Intercepted Obama’s Air Force One Communications
The U.S. State Department’s account in Persian: “President Trump is a man of action. If you didn’t know it until now, now you do—do not play games with President Trump.”
Fake Mainstream Media Double Standard: Elon Musk Versus Mamdani
HSBC Leads 2026 Mortgage Rate Cuts as UK Lending Costs Ease
US Joint Chiefs Chairman Outlines How Operation Absolute Resolve Was Carried Out in Venezuela
Starmer Welcomes End of Maduro Era While Stressing International Law and UK Non-Involvement
Korean Beauty Turns Viral Skincare Into a Global Export Engine
UK Confirms Non-Involvement in U.S. Military Action Against Venezuela
UK Terror Watchdog Calls for Australian-Style Social Media Ban to Protect Teenagers
Iranian Protests Intensify as Another Revolutionary Guard Member Is Killed and Khamenei Blames the West
Delta Force Identified as Unit Behind U.S. Operation That Captured Venezuela’s President
Europe’s Luxury Sanctions Punish Russian Consumers While a Sanctions-Circumvention Industry Thrives
Berkshire’s Buffett-to-Abel Transition Tests Whether a One-Man Trust Model Can Survive as a System
Fraud in European Central Bank: Lagarde’s Hidden Pay Premium Exposes a Transparency Crisis at the European Central Bank
×