UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham holds first meeting with Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy becomes the first country leader to meet with new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham. The two discuss drone projects and Ukraine's need for ballistic missile interceptors at a naval base in Portsmouth on England's south coast.

Monday's summit aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth at Portsmouth Naval Base comes as the Ukrainian leader prepares for diplomatic talks in Washington. In his first meeting with a foreign leader since taking office a week ago, Andy Burnham has reassured Ukraine of unwavering UK support against Russian offensives.

Addressing Zelenskyy, Burnham says: "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."

Zelenskyy frames the partnership between London and Kyiv as "stronger than ever."He says, "I am honoured to be the first foreign leader to visit the UK since Andy took office. Our relationship with the UK is stronger than ever and I thank Andy for his commitment to this partnership and for giving so much attention to defence and to our security."

The pair also greets hundreds of Ukrainian military personnel who have been trained under Britain's Operation Interflex for an exercise aimed at strengthening their fighting capabilities to counter mines in the Black Sea.

Russia has stepped up bombings on Ukrainian gas stations, power facilities and other infrastructure this year in an effort to strain the country's logistics and energy networks. Burnham says they've talked at length about the supply of defences to shoot down Russian ballistic missiles.

"Well, that was a big item of discussion today, the whole question of anti-ballistic missiles and the supply of them to Ukraine, particularly in terms of Ukraine protecting critical national infrastructure during the winters, that can be very harsh in Ukraine. So we talked at length about that issue. We've taken away, some things that we will now follow up with our partners."

He says: "Overall, it was a very warm meeting. I thought I would get on well with him, and I did."

Joint defence production is also under discussion, according to Zelenskyy, as the two nations already have a deal to cooperate on new drones.

Downing Street confirms the UK will share with Ukraine its intellectual property behind the new "Stone Cloak" electronic warfare system to help production at scale.

The technology can jam Russian air defences to stop drones from being detected and is intended to boost Ukraine's capability to protect critical civilian infrastructure from aerial threats.

Government figures show the UK's total support for Ukraine is estimated at 25 billion pounds, including 16 billion pounds in military assistance, after Moscow launched its military campaign four years ago.

Burnham says he intends to visit Ukraine soon. "I intend to visit soon. And we will build this and we will work through the different issues that President Zelenskyy has, many of which we've gone into today."