Keir Starmer visits Ukraine to sign major deal just days before Trump enters office
The IndependentSign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Sir Keir Starmer has declared Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine a “monumental strategic failure”, as he travelled to Kyiv to sign a new long-term partnership deal with Volodymyr Zelensky days before Donald Trump is sworn in as president. Sir Keir said the agreement, which will bolster military collaboration on maritime security and will bring together experts in areas including drone technology, showed Putin’s attempts to pull Ukraine away from the West had backfired. The prime minister said: “Putin’s ambition to wrench Ukraine away from its closest partners has been a monumental strategic failure. Sir Keir is also expected to announce new “lethal aid” and £40m for an economic recovery programme intended to unlock hundreds of millions of pounds of private lending for Ukraine’s small and medium-sized firms.