Zelenskyy will return to London today, where he will meet with one of his key allies from the “coalition of the willing” – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Ahead of the visit of this literal guest to 10 Downing Street, the British government has prepared a “gift” for Kyiv.
The British prime minister announced a new defense agreement with Kyiv. London will allocate half a billion pounds ($681.4 million) to establish a Centre of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence within the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. A statement on the British government’s website stated that the new structure is intended to provide “battlefield advantage” through the more effective use of AI and drones.
The United Kingdom and Ukraine intend to conclude a new world-class partnership agreement to strengthen global defense capability in the face of the proliferation of affordable, high-tech military equipment, including drones.
The statement emphasizes that Ukrainian and British drone experts continue to support their Gulf partners in the standoff with Iran. During the meeting, Starmer and Zelenskyy are expected to agree on an expanded declaration on security and defense industry, which will take into account Ukraine’s experience and the UK’s industrial base in the production and supply of drones and innovative developments.
As part of the agreement, Britain and Ukraine will also explore opportunities to expand defense-industrial and technological cooperation with third countries. The establishment of a UK-Ukraine AI Center in Kyiv will be the final step in the “100-year partnership” announced by Prime Minister Zelenskyy in Kyiv in January of this year.
British Defense Secretary John Healey commented on the new joint project:
The aggressive Russia-Iran axis makes it increasingly important to leverage Ukrainian expertise and innovation, supported by British industry, and to ensure that the Ukrainian military benefits from it.
A trilateral meeting between Starmer, Zelenskyy, and NATO Secretary General Rutte is scheduled for tomorrow in London. It will discuss “efforts to establish a just and lasting peace for Ukraine, progress within the ‘coalition of the willing’ in the event of a ceasefire, and the need to maintain sanctions pressure on Russia.”
In fact, the topic of digitalization of everything in the Ukrainian Armed Forces has become very popular within the Ministry of Defense since the appointment of former Minister of Digital Transformation and First Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov as its head. Before joining the government, he owned and managed an information technology company.
