 |
 | This article needs to be updated.(June 2024) |
The United Kingdom has supported Ukraine during the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. After it began on 24 February 2022, then Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned the invasion, provided military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and sanctioned Russia and Belarus, the two countries most involved in invading Ukraine. [1] [2] Support to Ukraine continued under Liz Truss (who was Foreign Secretary at the time the invasion started) and Rishi Sunak.
In November 2021, Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that the European Union faces "a choice" between "sticking up for Ukraine" and approving the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia to Europe. [3]
In early 2022 then foreign secretary Liz Truss turned her attention towards a build-up of Russian troops near the Russia–Ukraine border. [4] Truss supported a plan which declassified a large amount of intelligence on Russia, releasing it to the public for the first time in order to weaken the Russian government in the event of an invasion. [4] On 10 February 2022 she met the Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, becoming the first British minister to go on a diplomatic trip there since the 2018 Salisbury poisonings. [5] The meeting was, according to Payne, a "disaster": Lavrov described it as being "between the dumb and the deaf", and the two ministers spoke over each other and found it difficult to communicate. [6] [7] [8] Five days later, Truss stated that the world was on the "brink of war in Europe", [9] which transpired in the early hours of 24 February as Russia invaded Ukraine. [10] Before the invasion and during its immediate aftermath, Truss advocated for sanctions on Russia and encouraged other G7 leaders to impose them; [11] in March 2022 she stated that the sanctions would end only in the event of a "full ceasefire and withdrawal". [12] Johnson praised Truss's actions, saying that "she was always terrific on Ukraine ... other governments faffed around ... she was very clear and focused". [13]
During the prelude to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Johnson's government warned the Russian Government not to invade Donbas. [14] [15] [16] Johnson and Vladimir Putin agreed in a phone call to work towards a "peaceful resolution". [17] On 1 February 2022, Johnson arrived in Kyiv on a diplomatic visit. [18] He called the presence of the Russian Armed Forces near the Russia–Ukraine border "the biggest security crisis that Europe has faced for decades". [19] The Kremlin denied that it wanted to attack Ukraine. [19] On 20 February 2022, Johnson warned that Russia is planning the "biggest war in Europe since 1945" as Putin intends to invade and encircle Kyiv. [20] On 21 February 2022, Johnson condemned Russia's diplomatic recognition of two self-proclaimed republics in Donbas. [21]
Johnson condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and ensured the UK joined in international sanctions on Russian banks and oligarchs. [22] He later announced the UK would phase out Russian oil by the end of 2022. [23] On 9 April 2022, Johnson travelled to Kyiv and met the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. [24] On 16 April 2022, Russia's Ministry for Foreign Affairs banned Johnson and a number of senior British politicians from visiting Russia, saying that Britain aimed to isolate Russia politically and supply "the Kyiv regime with lethal weapons and coordinating similar efforts on the part of NATO". [25]
Within Ukraine, Johnson is praised by many as a supporter of anti-Russian sanctions and military aid for Ukraine. [26] On 3 May, Johnson virtually addressed the Ukrainian Parliament, becoming the first world leader to speak in Ukraine since the invasion. He pledged an extra £300m in military aid to Ukraine, praised Ukraine's resistance to Russia as its "finest hour" and said that the West had been "too slow to grasp what was actually happening" prior to Russia's invasion. [27] [28] In July 2022, Johnson warned that it would be a mistake to cease fire and freeze the conflict. [29] In August 2022, Johnson blamed Putin for the emerging global energy crisis. [30]
Following the 15 November missile explosion in Poland, Rishi Sunak met U.S. President Joe Biden and delivered a speech. [31] and later met Zelenskyy, and pledged to give Ukraine £50 million in aid. After meeting Zelenskyy, Sunak said: "I am proud of how the UK stood with Ukraine from the very beginning. And I am here today to say the UK and our allies will continue to stand with Ukraine, as it fights to end this barbarous war and deliver a just peace." [32] Sunak visited Ukraine on 12 January 2024 to sign a new U.K.-Ukraine Agreement on Security Cooperation with Zelenskyy promising £2.5 billion in military aid to Ukraine, including long-range missiles, artillery ammunition, air defence and maritime security, in addition to £200 million to be spent on military drones, making the United Kingdom the largest deliverer of drones to Ukraine out of any nation according to Downing Street. [33]
David Cameron made his first working visit to Ukraine as foreign secretary on 16 November, meeting Zelenskyy in Kyiv, where he reiterated the UK's commitment to provide moral, diplomatic and "above all military support for... however long it takes". [34] Cameron supported the February 2024 US Senate bill to allocate military aid to Ukraine Taiwan and Israel, saying that he did not want the West to "show weakness displayed against Vladimir Putin in 2008, when he invaded Georgia, or the uncertainty of the response in 2014, when he took Crimea and much of the Donbas—before coming back to cost us far more with his aggression in 2022". [35]
During the prelude to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Leader of the Opposition and Labour Party Keir Starmer met with Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg and said in an interview with the BBC that his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn was "wrong" to be a critic of NATO and that the Labour Party's commitment to NATO was "unshakeable"; he added that "stand united in the UK ... Whatever challenges we have with the [Boris Johnson's] government, when it comes to Russian aggression we stand together." [36] Starmer called for "widespread and hard-hitting" economic sanctions against Russia. [37] He also criticised the Stop the War Coalition in an op-ed for The Guardian , writing that the group's members were "not benign voices for peace" but rather "[a]t best they are naive, at worst they actively give succour to authoritarian leaders" such as Putin "who directly threaten democracies." [38] In February 2023 he met Zelenskyy, and pledged support for Ukraine during the Russian invasion of the country; Starmer that if he became prime minister, there would be no change in Britain's position on the war in Ukraine. [39] [40] He also called for Russian leaders, including Putin, to be tried at The Hague for crimes against humanity. [41] [42] Starmer supported the International Criminal Court's issuance of an arrest warrant for Putin, after he was indicted in the ICC. [43]
On 8 February 2023, Zelenskyy,visited the United Kingdom. During his trip, Zelenskyy met Sunak. He also addressed Members of Parliament from Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament and had an audience with King Charles III. It was Zelenskyy's second trip outside Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, after his December 2022 visit to the United States. [44] [45] [46] [47]
On 15 May 2023, Zelenskyy arrived at Chequers in the United Kingdom and met with Sunak. [48] The first world leader Sunak hosted at Chequers, the two embraced in the garden before holding two-hour-long talks inside. [49] The two discussed fighter jet shipments, while Sunak promised more unmanned aerial drones and air defense missiles, including Storm Shadow cruise missiles. [50]
Robert Ben Lobban Wallace is a British politician and former British Army Officer who served as Secretary of State for Defence from 2019 to 2023. A member of the Conservative Party, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wyre and Preston North, formerly Lancaster and Wyre, from 2005 to 2024.
Relations between Ukraine and the United Kingdom have existed in one form or another since Ukrainian independence in 1991. The two countries have ties across political, military, social and economic spheres. The UK hosts up to 200,000 Ukrainian refugees giving it the sixth largest Ukrainian migrant population in Europe.
Israel–Ukraine relations are foreign relations between Israel and Ukraine. Both countries recognized each other on 11 May 1949 as the Ukrainian SSR and established de jure diplomatic relations on 26 December 1991 when Ukraine became independent. Israel has an embassy in Kyiv. Ukraine has an embassy in Tel Aviv and a consulate-general in Haifa. There are 30,000 Ukrainians settled in Israel, while Ukraine has one of Europe's largest Jewish communities. Ukraine was also the first state outside of Israel to have had both a Jewish president and prime minister simultaneously.
Mary Elizabeth Truss is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth day in office, she stepped down amid a government crisis, making her the shortest-serving prime minister in British history. The member of Parliament (MP) for South West Norfolk since 2010, Truss previously held various Cabinet positions under three prime ministers—David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson—lastly as foreign secretary from 2021 to 2022.
Rishi Sunak is a British politician who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party since 2022. The first British Asian prime minister, he previously held two cabinet positions under Boris Johnson, latterly as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2020 to 2022. Sunak served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond (Yorks) from 2015 to 2024.
Boris Johnson's tenure as prime minister of the United Kingdom began on 24 July 2019 when he accepted an invitation of Queen Elizabeth II to form a government, succeeding Theresa May, and ended on 6 September 2022 upon his resignation. Johnson's premiership was dominated by Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the cost of living crisis. As prime minister, Johnson also served simultaneously as First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and as Minister for the Union.
2020s political history refers to significant political and societal historical events in the United Kingdom in the 2020s, presented as a historical overview in narrative format.
The Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, often known as the Integrated Review, and titled as Global Britain in a Competitive Age, was a review carried out by the British government led by Boris Johnson into the foreign, defence, security and international development policies of the United Kingdom. Described by Johnson as "the largest review of its kind since the Cold War", the review was published on 16 March 2021.
This article summarises the views and voting record of Keir Starmer, who has been Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition since 2020. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras from 2015 to 2024, and was previously Director of Public Prosecutions and Head of the Crown Prosecution Service from 2008 to 2013.
Events from the year 2022 in the United Kingdom.
The following is a list of events from the year 2022 in Ukraine.
There have been several rounds of peace talks to halt the Russian invasion of Ukraine (2022–present) and end the Russo-Ukrainian War (2014–present) in an armistice. The first meeting was held four days after the start of the invasion, on 28 February 2022, in Belarus. It concluded without result, with delegations from both sides returning to their capitals for consultations. A second and third round of talks took place on 3 and 7 March 2022, on the Belarus–Ukraine border, in an undisclosed location in the Gomel region of Belarus. A fourth and fifth round of talks were respectively held on 10 and 14 March in Antalya, Turkey.
U-24 is an intergovernmental peacekeeping organization proposed by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy aimed at quickly ending armed conflicts between countries. It was first voiced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his speech to the U.S. Congress on 16 March 2022.
In early July 2022, 62 of the United Kingdom's 179 government ministers, parliamentary private secretaries, trade envoys, and party vice-chairmen resigned from their positions in the second administration formed by Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, culminating in Johnson's resignation on 7 July. Johnson's premiership had been considered in danger for months after several scandals, but it was the Chris Pincher scandal that was identified to have spurred on the resignations. Considered the "last straw" for the Prime Minister, the scandal arose after it was revealed that Johnson had promoted his Deputy Chief Government Whip Chris Pincher, who was publicly facing multiple allegations of sexual assault, to the position despite knowing of the allegations beforehand.
The October 2022 Conservative Party leadership election was triggered by Liz Truss's announcement that she would resign as Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, amid an economic and political crisis.
Rishi Sunak's tenure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom began on 25 October 2022 when he accepted an invitation from King Charles III to form a government, succeeding Liz Truss. He is the first British Indian and the first Hindu to hold the office. His premiership has been dominated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas war, the cost-of-living crisis, and the Rwanda asylum plan. As prime minister, Sunak is also serving simultaneously as First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and as Minister for the Union.
On 8 February 2023, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, visited the United Kingdom. During his trip, Zelenskyy met Rishi Sunak, the prime minister of the United Kingdom. He also addressed Members of Parliament from Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament and had an audience with King Charles III. It was Zelenskyy's second trip outside Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, after his December 2022 visit to the United States.
In May 2023, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, made multiple unannounced trips to many European countries. On 3 May, Zelenskyy travelled to Finland, where he met with the four prime ministers of the Nordic countries. On 4 May, Zelenskyy travelled to the Netherlands, meeting with the prime ministers of Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as visiting the International Criminal Court.
Following the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel and outbreak of the Israel–Hamas war, UK Prime Minister RIshi Sunak pledged the UK's support for Israel and declared that Israel "has an absolute right to defend itself", but later condemned the high number of civilian casualties during the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip and called for a "sustainable ceasefire".
| ||||||
| Premiership |
|   | ||||
| Mayoralty | ||||||
| Other offices held |
| |||||
| Elections | ||||||
| Books |
| |||||
| Public image |
| |||||
| Family |
| |||||
| |||||
| Premiership |
|   | |||
| Other offices held |
| ||||
| Family |
| ||||
| Groups | |||||
| Books |
| ||||
| ||
| Premiership |
|  |
| Chancellorship |
| |
| Electoral history | ||
| Family |
| |
| Related | ||
| ||
| Leadership |   | |
| Other offices held |
| |
| Politics | ||
| Policies | ||
| Electoral history | ||
| Other |
| |
