Britain is taking a punt on Ukraine’s future

There is a perverse congruence of interests between the British and Russian governments, as both sides seek to talk up London’s level of influence in Ukraine. This was particularly visible in the new agreement signed between the UK and Ukraine last week – and Moscow’s response to it.

To the Kremlin, after all, Perfidious Albion remains its most devious antagonist. True to form, the Russian embassy in London tweeted out that Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s surprise visit to Kyiv represented ‘a desperate attempt by British handlers to keep the agonising Kiev [sic] regime afloat’ with ‘new highly provocative UK plans, including the establishment of military bases within Ukrainian territory’.

Of course, this flatters to deceive. There is some still-vague talk of transferring some of the training currently provided to Ukrainian troops in the UK back to Ukraine, but nothing more – and certainly nothing about bases.