Johnson and Austrian Chancellor Carl Nehammer paid separate visits to Zelensky on Saturday, the last of a series of leaders who traveled to the country during the ongoing Russian invasion.
A photo posted on Twitter by the Ukrainian Embassy in the United Kingdom shows Johnson sitting across from Zelensky at a table in a pink and green tanned room. The post had a caption with the word “Surprise” and a winking face emoji.
The press service of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine reported on its official Twitter account that the two leaders had talks in Kyiv, posting several photos from the previously unannounced meeting of the couple.
Johnson tweeted that his visit to Kyiv was “a demonstration of our unwavering support for the people of Ukraine” and announced a new package of financial and military assistance.
“Ukraine has defied the odds and pushed Russian forces out of the gates of Kiev, achieving the greatest arms achievement of the 21st century,” the prime minister said in a statement.
He praised Zelensky’s “decisive leadership” and the “invincible heroism and courage of the Ukrainian people”, adding that the United Kingdom was “standing firm with them in this ongoing struggle; we are in it for a long time”.
Following the meeting, Downing Street said the UK government would provide armored vehicles and anti-aircraft missile systems, “in addition to the ποιότητας 100 million high-quality military equipment” announced on Friday.
Zelenskyy and Nehammer’s meeting with Johnson was separate and took place earlier on Saturday, according to Zelenskyy’s official Telegram channel.
While several other leaders have visited Ukraine in recent weeks, Nehammer’s trip is significant given his country’s neutral status, which is enshrined in its constitution.
Austria is not part of NATO and does not supply weapons to Ukraine. However, it provided humanitarian aid to Ukraine and helmets and protective vests for political use, according to a statement from the Austrian Chancellery.
Nehammer said on Saturday that while his country was militarily neutral, “we understand that we need to help where injustices and war crimes are taking place.”
According to his office, Nehammer was scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko before returning to Austria on Saturday afternoon.
Nehammer was also scheduled to visit Kiev’s Bucha suburb, which has endured five weeks of near-continuous fires. After the withdrawal of Russian forces from the city, the bodies of at least 20 civilians were found on a street, some with their hands tied.
Nehammer said Bucha was “a place of war crimes”.
“We must report these war crimes to the UN and international justice must begin to investigate and combat these crimes,” he told a news conference with Zelensky.
Johnson and Nehamer’s twin visits came a day after top European Union officials traveled to Ukraine. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the bloc’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, visited Kyiv and Bucha on Friday, along with Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger.
During the visit, von der Leyen solemnly handed Zelensky an EU questionnaire to complete – a symbolic but important step towards Ukraine’s accession to the bloc. In a tweet about the move, von der Leyen said: “We will speed up this process as much as we can, while ensuring that all conditions are met.”
The prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia visited Kyiv last month, at a time when Russia was still regularly targeted. Like Johnson’s visit on Saturday, this trip was kept secret until the three leaders were in the country, traveling by train from eastern Ukraine.
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