Burnham meets Zelensky, pledges new drone jamming tech

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has held his first meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a UK naval base, pledging new "Stone Cloak" jamming technology to help safeguard Ukraine's drones on the battlefield.

The meeting on the dockside and on board an aircraft carrier in the southern city of Portsmouth was Mr Burnham's first bilateral with a foreign leader and comes ahead of a visit by Mr Zelensky to Washington on Tuesday aimed at ending the four-year war with Russia.

"We are with Ukraine 100%. I am personally with you 100%, Mr President," Mr Burnham assured Mr Zelensky after the two men, both wearing similar dark casual clothes, shook hands on the dockside.

Mr Zelensky thanked Mr Burnham for an "important signal of support" and said he had invited Mr Burnham to visit Ukraine, after the leaders spoke by phone within hours of the new prime minister taking office.

Vowing to "honour every commitment this country has made to Ukraine," Mr Burnham said Britain was "going further" and was "providing new, home-grown jamming technology to protect Ukrainian drones" as both Moscow and Kyiv intensify drone and missile strikes.

"It will help them to hit their targets and help save Ukrainian lives. It also shows the kind of innovation our industries can deliver together," Mr Burnham said.

Afterwards, Mr Zelensky wrote on X that he was "grateful" to Britain for "today's decision to provide Ukraine with electronic warfare technologies" that would "certainly be useful on the battlefield".

The leaders met on board Britain's flagship aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth and spoke to armed forces personnel involved in training Ukrainian service members.

"Britain stands with Ukraine, shoulder to shoulder, and our support remains unwavering," Mr Burnham said in a statement.

"Russia should be in no doubt of our resolve, and we will not back down until we achieve long-lasting and just peace for Ukraine."

London announced it will share with Kyiv information on a new battle-tested electronic jamming capability dubbed "Stone Cloak".

When attached to drones, the tablet-sized, military-grade jammers can hinder Russian air defence systems from tracking and targeting such weapons in-flight, Downing Street said.

Thousands of the jammers, developed under a 100-year partnership pact between the countries, have already been gifted to Kyiv, according to London.

Following their roll-out and potential mass production in Ukraine, Stone Cloak will be built into the next generation of UK deep-strike capabilities, it noted.

"Stone Cloak is the best of homegrown British innovation and proven on the frontline, and it will be vital to protecting our security in both our countries," Mr Burnham said.

Joint defence production

In a sign of Ukraine's deepening defence ties with Britain, Mr Zelensky wrote on X that the leaders "discussed the development of joint defense production".

"Together, we can achieve even more in the field of drones and other technologies", he said.

Mr Burnham and Mr Zelensky met some of the roughly 200 Ukrainian military personnel who have been in Britain for the past three weeks participating in a maritime security and counter-mine exercise.

It was held to prepare for future missions in the Black Sea.

Downing Street noted the UK's total support for Ukraine has reached £25 billion since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, including £16bn in direct military assistance.

Mr Zelensky is due in Washington tomorrow, where he will have talks with US President Donald Trump, a White House official said last week.

He is also expected to attend the funeral of US senator Lindsey Graham, a supporter of Ukraine who died earlier this month.