On 17 March 2026 United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met to discuss the UK-Ukraine Strategic Dialogue.
On 17 March 2026 United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met to discuss the UK-Ukraine Strategic Dialogue.
The dialogue provides a comprehensive framework for jointly achieving the UK and Ukraine's shared objectives and further strengthening our bilateral relationship. It ensures the progress of commitments made in the landmark 100 Year Partnership, the 2020 Strategic Partnership Agreement and the 2024 Bilateral Security Agreement.
The UK-Ukraine Strategic Dialogue spans eight pillars covering security, trade, transport, energy, justice, science, culture, and foreign policy. The Parties have held dialogues for each pillar to discuss areas of mutual cooperation and identify strategic priorities for the year ahead.
In the 2025 Strategic Dialogue, UK and Ukraine discussed the following;
Pillar One, Political, Conflict and Stabilisation: The UK and Ukraine commit to coordination on foreign policy priorities aimed at achieving just and lasting peace for Ukraine and delivering mutual security, recovery and growth benefits. These priorities include coordination on: actively supporting Ukraine's participation in US-led peace talks; supporting these efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine through the UK's co-leadership of the Coalition of the Willing, development of a system of politically and legally binding security guarantees (as outlined in the 6 January Paris Declaration) and plans for the future deployment of the Multinational Force Ukraine (MNF-U); sustaining the Ukrainian Armed Forces; returning of deported children; bolstering Ukraine's energy security; delivering an ambitious reform agenda and engaging with US; the Global South and in multilateral organisations. The UK and Ukraine will continue to exert sustained economic pressure on Russia through strengthened sanctions cooperation. We agreed that these efforts would include further measures to tackle Russia's shadow fleet. We also agreed that Russia must pay for the damage it is causing to Ukraine. We will work with international partners to consider all lawful routes to ensure Russia pays, and Ukraine gets the funding it needs. The UK and wider G7 have committed to ensuring that Russian sovereign assets remain immobilised across our jurisdictions until Russia ceases its war of aggression and pays for the damage it has caused to Ukraine.
Pillar Two, Defence and Security: The UK will continue to provide long-term defence support to Ukraine in line with its commitment of at least £3 billion per year until 2030/31 and for as long as necessary to support Ukraine. The UK will continue to support Ukraine's air defence requirements through its leadership of the UDCG as well as its previous financial contribution within the PURL initiative, which is vital for strengthening Ukraine's resilience, particularly its air-defence in the face of Russia's relentless attacks on critical and civilian infrastructure. We express the mutual readiness to deepen multilateral cooperation within the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) to ensure effective practical implementation of the "Enhanced Partnership between Ukraine and JEF, recognising Ukraine's unmatched practical experience in modern warfare. Building the UK-Ukraine battlefield technology agreement, signed in June 2025, we will continue to collaborate on programme LYRA to scale up production of OCTOPUS interceptor drones and continue to identify mutually beneficial joint defence technology initiatives. The joint declaration announced today by Leaders deepens this cooperation and we will continue to work to facilitate the route for companies to both export and collaborate on capability development. Projects such as Nightfall will ensure Ukrainian battlefield requirements directly shape UK innovation and build UK expertise such that the UK's world-class defence industry can continue to support and enhance Ukrainian capability. The UK will continue to support the training of Ukrainian troops through Operation INTERFLEX. We remain committed to enhance cooperation through multilateral fora to tackle Serious and Organised Crime and will continue to enhance cooperation to combat broader security threats.
Pillar Three, Countering FIMI: Building on existing bilateral agreements, the UK and Ukraine seek to advance joint efforts through open-source information sharing, strategic communications support, and resilience-building programmes. Crucially, we aim to coordinate countermeasures to disrupt the actors and networks responsible for Russia's information warfare and its deceptive campaigns, including in third-countries. These activities threaten to undermine international support for Ukraine and our national security and shared democratic values. The UK and Ukraine will enhance cooperation to counter Russian disinformation and disrupt Kremlin-linked entities who play a key role in enabling Russia's information campaigns.
Pillar Four, Energy and Climate: The UK and Ukraine will continue to work closely to strengthen Ukraine's energy security and resilience against Russian aggression, while supporting long-term recovery and transition. The UK will support Ukraine in restoring destroyed energy infrastructure and preparing for next winter. This includes engagement with the Ukraine Energy Support Fund, supporting the Green Transition Office, and deepening technical partnerships. We will coordinate international efforts through platforms such as the G7+ Energy Coordination Group. We will advance governance reforms and transparency in Ukraine to attract investment and accelerate Ukraine's path toward EU integration and low-carbon growth.
Pillar Five, Justice and Accountability: The UK and Ukraine remain committed to pursuing accountability for Russia's aggression and the atrocities perpetrated in Ukraine. We will work to ensure effective cooperation in documenting, investigating, and prosecuting Russia's international crimes in support of international processes of accountability and redress. We will develop and share best practice in respect of the collection of evidence, investigation and prosecution that will deliver tangible results. We will agree joint action to establish the facts and identify children deported and forcibly displaced by Russia, to return them to Ukraine and reunite them with their families. We will commit to expanding our long-term cooperation on the transformation and resilience of Ukraine's justice sector. The UK and Ukraine will continue work alongside international partners to facilitate the adoption of the Enlarged Partial Agreement for the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, and to ensure its long-term sustainability and credibility. The UK and Ukraine will also continue to work on the full implementation of the International Claims Commission for Ukraine including exploration of possible sources of funding for the compensation.
Pillar Six, Science, Tech and Innovation: In 2026, the UK and Ukraine will drive innovation-led economic growth by deepening collaboration between our space agencies through a new Memorandum of Understanding on the peaceful use and exploration of outer space, and by expanding wider cooperation in the space sector, including through joint bilateral and multilateral projects. We will also strengthen the capacity and capability of medical personnel, and accelerate new opportunities through digital transformation and cooperation on AI to provide best-in-class public services. Both sides will also strengthen cooperation in cybersecurity and AI, including efforts to support responsible development and use of AI technologies. We will also launch the ResearchBridge platform to drive researcher connections in areas of cutting-edge innovation. We will continue to join up tech industry ties through the TechBridge, which to date has helped Ukrainian startups secure over £10 million in funding and partnerships. The UK will extend its DIGIT programme, helping the Government of Ukraine to harness digital innovation to ensure more responsive, transparent and effective service delivery and drive sustainable economic recovery. Recognising the urgent need for comprehensive rehabilitation of veterans as a result of the war, we will deepen our strategic partnership across all areas of state policy concerning war veterans, including physical and mental rehabilitation, sports-based recovery, and the expansion of digital services.
Pillar Seven, Sociocultural links, Migration and Sport: The UK and Ukraine will continue to advance partnerships across both education and culture. This includes continuing to deliver the UK-Ukraine Schools Partnership programme through the British Council, and the UK-Ukraine Cultural Commission, and fulfilling our commitment to facilitate training and educational exchanges for Ukrainian youth, universities, and the preservation of Ukrainian cultural heritage. The UK will further continue to transform English language learning in Ukraine by training thousands more teachers and civil servants across the country. We reaffirmed our commitment to cooperating on mobility and migration, and to encouraging people‑to‑people contacts as a foundation of our partnership. The UK and Ukraine agreed to discussions on three main elements: (i) to recognise improvements and undertake a technical exchange on options to further ease travel for government delegations to the UK and where the conditions for well-managed and secure mobility are in place, taking steps to make it easier for citizens to travel, (ii) issues related to combating irregular/illegal migration, documents security and asylum policy, (iii) the long-term approach for Ukrainians residing in the UK under the Ukraine Schemes. This dialogue will be guided by Ukraine's strong desire for its citizens to return home voluntarily, when conditions allow, to support the country's recovery and reconstruction. We also confirmed the importance of coordinating efforts in international sport to restrict the participation of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus while Russia continues its illegal aggression against Ukraine, noting the consistent role of the United Kingdom in consolidating the position of like-minded states.
Pillar Eight, Economy and Trade: The UK and Ukraine have established a new Economy and Trade Dialogue to drive our joint commitments under the Economy and Trade Pillar of the 100 Year Partnership. The Dialogue aims to support growth in our bilateral trade, by addressing barriers that impede our joint ambition, and strengthening transport links that underpin economic growth. Together, the UK and Ukraine continue to progress on initiatives to improve access to war and non-war risk insurance, revitalise Ukraine's capital markets, support Ukraine's business enabling environment and strengthen the business regulatory environment to accelerate investment into recovery and reconstruction projects.
