JAKARTA - The UK will ship hundreds of long-range attack drones with a range of more than 200 km to Ukraine, along with President Volodymyr Zelensky's arrival to meet and hold talks with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday.
"Today the Prime Minister will confirm the further supply of hundreds of British air defense missiles, as well as further drone systems, including hundreds of long-range attack drones with a range of more than 200 km," the government said in a statement.
"This will all be delivered in the coming months as Ukraine prepares to intensify its resistance to the ongoing Russian invasion," the statement continued.
PM Sunak is known to have accepted President Zelensky at the residence of the British leader in Chequers, both of whom are also discussing Ukraine's request for Western fighter jets.
Britain said it would start basic training for Ukrainian pilots this summer, "at the same time as Britain's efforts to work with other countries to provide F-16 jets."
"We want to make this jet coalition and I am very positive with it... I see that in the nearest time you will hear some, I think, a very important decision, but we have to work a little bit more for that," said President Zelensky, who previously visited Rome, Berlin and Paris.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for PM Sunak said Britain had no plans to send fighter jets to Ukraine.
"Ukraine made the decision to train their pilots with the F-16 and you definitely know that RAF doesn't use it," he said.
Separately, the Kremlin on Monday said Russia was taking a "very negative" view of Britain's decision to supply Ukraine with more military hardware, but did not believe London's aid would change the course of the conflict.
As previously reported, Britain on Thursday last week became the first country to start supplying Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles, which would allow Ukrainian troops to attack Russian troops and long-backed supply bins behind the front lines.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Britain supplies Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine so they can be used within his territory, implying he has received assurances from Ukraine that the missiles will not be used to target within Russia.
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