The UK announced on Aug. 24 that it will help Ukraine fabricate its own long-range missiles by sharing classified information on British components for the weapons.
Burnham’s move means that Franco-British-Italian arms manufacturer MBDA can release classified information on British components for the long-range SCALP missile.
The SCALP is the French-produced version of the UK’s Storm Shadow, with the acronym standing for “Système de Croisière Autonome à Longue Portée,” which, in English, means long-range autonomous cruise missile system.
It is built using both French and British technology by MBDA, a multinational corporation comprising France’s Airbus, the UK’s BAE Systems, and Italy’s Leonardo.
In remarks released ahead of his trip, which was Burnham’s first foreign trip since taking office on July 20, he said that “the Ukrainian people should be in no doubt: the UK is behind you today and for as long as it takes.”
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“I am proud of the contribution our country has made to Ukraine, and I want the Ukrainian people to hear it directly from me that our support will not waver. After all, Ukraine’s security is our security,” he said, adding that the friendship between London and Kyiv “will long outlast Russia’s illegal war,” and vowing that neither will “back down until there is a just and lasting peace.”
The move by London comes after Paris approved production in Ukraine of AASM guided bombs and SCALP cruise missiles on July 14, with a view to begin manufacturing in Ukraine before 2026.
Russia took a dim view of the UK’s announcement that it would be sharing tech with Ukraine, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying it viewed the development “extremely negatively.”
“Britain is participating in this war. It is participating in this war on the side of the Kyiv regime,” he said, according to Russian state news agency TASS.
Peskov said London is “methodically and regularly adding fuel to the fire” of the conflict and “plotting” to prevent any progress in the peace process.
In tandem with the agreement on SCALP missiles, Burnham and Zelenskyy also signed an agreement to jointly develop artificial intelligence tools for defense and security, giving British researchers access to a Ukrainian battlefield data platform used to train military AI systems.
The move makes Britain the first international partner to access Ukraine’s Avengers AI Labs, according to a UK government statement.
“The platform provides real-world data and insights to train AI models, collected by thousands of daylight cameras and infrared sensors across the battlefield in Ukraine,” the statement said, adding that the sensors had the “potential to revolutionise all parts of public life, from air traffic control to train systems,” but stipulating that the deal “will first focus on defence and national security.”
Zelenskyy thanked Burnham in an Aug. 24 post on X for making his nation the first foreign country he visited as prime minister, saying the UK and Ukraine have “built an unprecedentedly strong and friendly dialogue that we can certainly be proud of.”
“It was an honor, on behalf of the Ukrainian people, to present Andy with the first new state distinction—‘Gratitude of the Ukrainian People,’ awarded to the people of the United Kingdom,” he said, in a post that also confirmed the signing of the AI deal.
Four Years of War
“Ukraine absolutely wants peace, but it is not ready to simply surrender,” Zelenskyy said, adding that Moscow would not halt its military aggression, even if Kyiv agreed to its demands for more territory in the east.
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
Meanwhile, fighting continues along the 750-mile front line.
Russian forces control about 20 percent of Ukraine, which includes Crimea and parts of the Donbas that Russia had seized before the full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, according to an Aug. 18 war report card from Russia Matters, a project by Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
Victoria Freidman contributed to this report.