It was a pleasure to meet with Ukrainian MPs visiting the Parliament this week with the Inter-Parliamentary Association as part of their delegation to the UK, many of whom we met during our cross party delegation to Kyiv a few weeks ago.
President Zelenskyy was also in Parliament to address MPs and Lords at the invitation of the speakers, and in Downing Street to meet the Prime Minister.
Yesterday’s new UK–Ukraine defence agreement – a new world-leading partnership to boost global defensive capability and our national security sends a clear message that we stand with Ukraine, not just in words, but in action. Our friends in Ukraine have had to build new skills in realtime on the battlefield, and they’ve paid the price in the loss of life, injury and displacement of over 8 million citizens internally and beyond its own borders.
I saw that strength first-hand when I visited Ukraine last month with colleagues, marking four years since Putin’s illegal full scale invasion. The reality on the ground stays with you.
I hope they got a lot from their time in parliament. Slava Ukraini.
Jim McMahon OBE MP 