Chancellor and South West Surrey MP, Jeremy Hunt, recently met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

The pair met to discuss Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s announcement of a £500 million aid package for Ukraine, the UK’s commitment to spend 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence by the end of the decade and the ongoing restrictions against Russia.

The new aid package takes the UK’s military support for Ukraine to £3 billion this financial year, plus the £4.6 billion already given since the war began.

Mr Hunt said to Mr Zelenskyy: “You are the people paying for the defence of freedom with lives and we never forget that.

“It is the UK and European strategic interest that Putin must fail.

“We will do everything possible to make sure we learn the lessons of history and stop him.”

Jeremy Hunt is pictured attending a Breakfast Briefing.
Jeremy Hunt is pictured attending a Breakfast Briefing (Kirsty O'Connor/HM Treasury)

On X (Twitter), Zelenskyy later said: “I welcomed the UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt and thanked him for the UK's largest defence aid package, worth half a billion pounds.

“We paid special attention to the sanction policy.

“It is important to extend restrictive measures against Russia and make the circumvention of sanctions impossible.

“I thank the people, the Government, the Prime Minister, and the Parliament of the United Kingdom for their support of Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

“We highly value our countries’ partnership.”

Jeremy Hunt is pictured alongside Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko in Saint Michael's Square in Kyiv looking at captured Russian tanks.
Jeremy Hunt is pictured alongside Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko in Saint Michael's Square in Kyiv looking at captured Russian tanks (Kirsty O'Connor /HM Treasury)

Mr Hunt described Zelenskyy as the “bravest man on the planet” and praised Ukrainians for their courage.

According to the UK Government, more military equipment being sent to Ukraine will include:

  • Sixty boats
  • More than 1,600 strike and air defence missiles
  • Storm Shadow long-range precision-guided missiles
  • More than 400 vehicles
  • Nearly 4 million rounds of small arms ammunition.

For more details about the meeting, visit https://tinyurl.com/Hunt-marks-support-for-Ukraine

Jeremy Hunt is pictured paying his respects to the fallen at a memorial in Saint Michael's Square, Kyiv.
Jeremy Hunt is pictured paying his respects to the fallen at a memorial in Saint Michael's Square, Kyiv (Kirsty O'Connor /HM Treasury)