By Andrew MacAskill
LONDON, Aug 24 (Reuters) – UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham will visit Ukraine on Monday on his first overseas trip since taking office, and will announce British support to help Kyiv improve its domestic production of long-range missiles.
Burnham will be in Ukraine to co-chair a meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing, a group of countries backing Ukraine, on Monday when he is also due to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
He is set to announce that Britain has agreed to allow European missile manufacturer MBDA to release classified information on British-made components used in the SCALP long-range cruise missile, according to his office.
That will help enable France and Ukraine to establish local assembly lines for the missile, which shares British and French technology, according to Downing Street.
“Ukraine’s security is our security,” Burnham said in a statement, adding that Britain would stand by Ukraine “for as long as it takes”.
Britain has been one of Ukraine’s strongest supporters since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, providing military support, economic aid and diplomatic backing.
Britain was the first country to announce plans to supply Ukraine with Western-made battle tanks and long-range cruise missiles following the invasion and has pledged more than £25 billion ($34 billion) so far in military and civilian support.
REASSURANCE OF UK SUPPORT
Moscow warned London last week of “consequences” for supplying drones to Kyiv, accusing Britain of deepening its involvement in the war following a report that British-made drones had been used for long-range strikes against Russia for the first time.
Burnham is expected to use his visit to reassure Ukraine and its allies that Britain would continue to play a leading role in efforts to strengthen Ukraine’s security under his government.
The push to expand Ukraine’s domestic missile production comes as Ukraine increasingly relies on long-range drones and strike weapons to target Russian oil refineries and logistics facilities far behind the front lines.
The visit comes weeks after Zelenskiy travelled to Britain in late July as Burnham’s first international guest, following the Labour leader’s election as prime minister a week earlier.
($1 = 0.7334 pounds)
(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill; Editing by Susan Fenton)
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