Sir Keir Starmer is in Kyiv to sign a new 100-year agreement pledging the UK’s “steadfast support” to Ukraine. Sky’s Political Editor Beth Rigby joins the PM. It comes as the mayor of Kyiv has confirmed a drone attack on the city centre.
Thursday 16 January 2025 10:40, UK
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Away from Ukraine, suspended Labour MP Mike Amesbury has just pleaded guilty to assault by beating at at Chester Magistrates’ Court.
It comes after he punched a man in Frodsham, Cheshire in October.
CCTV footage has showed the MP for Runcorn and Helsby punching the man on Main Street, Frodsham, Cheshire.
Other previously released videos from another angle show Mr Amesbury punching the man repeatedly after knocking him to the floor as members of the public intervened.
It was reported to police at 2.48pm on Saturday 26 October.
The 55-year-old politician is currently an independent MP after he was suspended by Labour at the end of October when the CCTV footage emerged.
He was voluntarily interviewed under caution by Cheshire Police and was “released pending further enquiries”.
Cheshire Police then handed a file on his case to the Crown Prosecution Service’s special crime division in London, rather than the local department, because of his position as an MP.
He was charged with common assault by police on 7 November.
At the time, Amesbury said what happened was “deeply regrettable” and he was cooperating with police.
As Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Kyiv today, explosions and air raid sirens were reported to have sounded in the Ukrainian capital.
Vitaliy Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, confirmed the Russian drone attack at around 10.16am UK time.
In the last hour, Sir Keir and Volodymyr Zelenskyy laid a wreath at a makeshift memorial at St Michael’s Square in Kyiv.
Mr Klitschko urged those in the city to “stay in shelters”.
Sir Keir Starmer has met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, where he laid a wreath at a vast memorial for killed soldiers.
The “Memory Wall of Fallen Soldiers” features photographs of thousands of military personnel who have died in service, largely during the war with Russia.
It is estimated that 5,000 photographs are on the makeshift memorial.
Today marks the prime minister’s first trip to Ukraine since taking over the top job in July.
Over in Kyiv, Sir Keir Starmer has spent his morning at Ukraine’s main burns unit to see first hand the human toll of the war with Russia.
Here, he met with burns victims – some of whom had burns on 80% of their bodies – and staff from the Red Cross who are working in the region.
As we’ve told you, Sir Keir Starmer has made his way to Kyiv today for his first meeting in Ukraine since becoming prime minister in July.
He said the UK will “never let up” on support for Ukraine, adding he it committed to making sure “Ukraine is in the strongest possible position during 2025”.
Sir Keir told reporters: “It’s very important we ensure that Ukraine is in the strongest possible position.
“That’s something I’ve been arguing for since I was prime minister. This is my seventh meeting with President Zelenskyy.
“I’m here at the burns unit of one of the Kyiv hospitals, which is a grim reminder of the heavy price Ukraine is paying.
“So we must give the necessary support, and that’s what I’m discussing with President Zelenskyy today. We must never let up on that and we’ve been leading the way.”
He said the 100-year partnership he was signing with Ukraine was a “real statement of our intent for the long term”.
“So I’m here for both those purposes but the main one is to make sure Ukraine is in the strongest possible position during 2025.”
He said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war had been a failure, and “one of the consequences of this conflict has been to draw NATO more strongly together”.
“It’s bigger and stronger than it has been, and we must stand behind Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
Sir Keir Starmer said the latest economic growth figure was “a step in the right direction, but there’s much, much more we’ve got to do”.
He told journalists in Kyiv that the government would be “unrelenting” in its pursuit of economic growth.
Sir Keir added: “It was always going to take time to turn around 14 years of economic failure under the last government. That was always going to take time.
“The figures out today are a step in the right direction, but there’s much, much more we’ve got to do and that we will do.
“We’re going to be unrelenting when it comes to driving our economy forward – changing the planning rules, changing regulation.
“The chancellor’s having a session today with the regulators.
“We’re unrelenting on this because we intend to turn this around, to get back economic growth.”
Sir Keir Starmer has said news of a Israel-Hamas ceasefire must be “enduring news” – as he insisted a two-state solution is key to lasting peace.
Speaking in Kyiv, the prime minister said the ceasefire will “be a huge relief to hostages and their families who have been through the most awful, awful of time. It’s really important they’re released just as quickly as possible”.
He added: “There will be relief for the very many Palestinians who have suffered hugely as well. This must be used to get desperately needed aid in, at scale and at speed.
“But it must also – and I’ve been talking to regional leaders about this – be used obviously to get through the various stages.
“But also there’s a path to a lasting peace which has to be a two-state solution, a viable Palestinian state and a safe and secure Israel.
“So we’re working with those in the region and our allies to make sure that this welcome news is enduring news and we’ll be putting all of our efforts into that.”
Sir Keir Starmer has just visited Ukraine’s main burns unit to see first hand the human toll of this war, with victims from the front line – mainly military personnel but civilians – being treated here with the most horrific injuries from missile and shell explosions.
Some patients in intensive have 80% burns over their bodies.
The prime minister, who spent some time visiting patients in intensive care and rehabilitation, said afterwards it was a “grim reminder the heavy price the Ukrainians pay for [Vladimir] Putin’s aggression”.
Simon Jones, Red Cross country lead for Ukraine, told Sky News NHS specialists come on secondments to the hospital for six to eight weeks to help improve the treatment of burns victims by bringing in specialists, from anaesthetists to physiotherapists, as well as equipment.
Their work is funded by donations from the British public to the Red Cross and the foreign office.
“This major burns unit in the Ukraine is not the standard we would accept in the West so we are trying to bring it to a higher level, through equipment, beds, dressings and treatment,” he says.
Our political editor Beth Rigby is in Kyiv today, where she has joined the prime minister on his first trip to Ukraine in the role.
Sir Keir Starmer is meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to sign a 100-year “landmark” deal, which he says will underpin the UK’s “steadfast support”.
Beth says: “It comes at a critical moment, with Trump poised to enter the White House in days, and an expectation among European allies that peace negotiations will begin.
“President Trump has made it clear that he wants to end the war in Ukraine. The conflict is dependant on billions of dollars of funding from the US.
“President Trump wants to negotiate, says he wants to talk to Putin.”
Beth says what we have at the moment is a “British prime minister coming over here to show solidarity and support with Ukraine among European allies”.
She says today will see the signing of a 100-year partnership, and there may also be an “update of support in terms of weapons for Ukraine as the war intensifies ahead of Donald Trump entering the White House with Russia making gains”.
The British prime minister is in Ukraine at a “critical time”, she reiterates.
“There will be lots of discussion today about what peace negotiations might look like because the tone has shifted from victory for Ukraine and doubling down in support for as long as it takes to putting Ukraine in the best possible position for negotiations”.
As we’ve been reporting, Sir Keir Starmer has arrived in Kyiv this morning for his first visit to Ukraine since becoming prime minister six months ago.
He has now shared a short message to the people of Ukraine…
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