On Friday, January 16, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha opened the First Forum of the Hundred-Year Partnership between Ukraine and Great Britain in Kyiv, which took place on the anniversary of the signing of the historic 100-year Partnership Agreement between the two countries.
The guest of honor of the forum was Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Minister of Justice of Great Britain David Lammy, who has already paid a fifth visit to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion.
The event was attended by the Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk and the leadership of the parliament, people's deputies of Ukraine, representatives of the diplomatic corps and heads of foreign diplomatic missions.
Andrii Sybiha informed the audience about Russia's conscious use of frost as an element of combined attacks, which is a genocidal war crime and entails inevitable liability.
The Minister expressed special gratitude to the United Kingdom for announcing additional support for Ukrainian energy in the amount of more than UAH 1 billion, calling this decision "timely and extremely necessary."
“A century-old partnership is about sustainability despite electoral cycles. Because a strong and prosperous Ukraine is - and will remain - the national interest of Great Britain: security, economic and geopolitical," the head of the Foreign Ministry emphasized.
Andrii Sybiha identified security, economy and politics as the three key dimensions of the Ukrainian-British century partnership. He stressed that the uniqueness of this format lies in the joint laying of the foundation of the European security architecture.
"The United Kingdom has made a long-term commitment to provide military support to Ukraine. We are talking about more than 170 billion hryvnias annually for our defense in the coming, most critical years," the minister said.
According to the head of the Foreign Ministry, since February, Ukraine and the United Kingdom have been entering the monthly joint production of a thousand Octopus interceptor drones. Andrii Sybiha called the Ukrainian-British partnership "a true alliance for the sake of undivided European security and a common future."
The minister also noted that over the past year, the United Kingdom has significantly increased sanctions pressure on Russia and expanded sanctions lists.
"We are talking, in particular, about a blow to the energy sector and the "shadow fleet": in total, more than 540 tankers were sanctioned, which bypassed the established price ceiling and provided fuel to the Russian military vehicle. It is important that not only the ships hit the target, but also the entire toxic infrastructure system of this shameful fleet," the diplomat said.
The Foreign Minister also noted the active dynamics of political dialogue between Ukraine and Great Britain, in particular at the highest level.
"President Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Starmer are in constant dialogue in all possible formats. This is an alliance of trust at the highest level. For us, the support of the Crown is also extremely important, in particular the personal audience of President Zelensky in His Majesty King Charles," the minister said.
Andrii Sybiha expressed his deep gratitude to the United Kingdom for its comprehensive support for Ukraine and true alliance, as well as special thanks to David Lammy for his continuous advocacy voice in the international arena to strengthen support for Ukraine.