Burnham hosts Zelensky in Portsmouth and says: Britain stands 100 percent with Ukraine

According to Burnham, the "Stone Cloak" system is the size of a tablet computer and prevents drones from being intercepted. It is a new technology for electronic jamming of Russian air defense systems that is mounted on drones. Thousands of the devices have already been delivered to Ukraine, according to the British government. With the production license, Ukrainian industry gains the ability to manufacture and further develop the system on its own.

Background: The "Stone Cloak" system

Burnham also declared in Portsmouth that his country would fully honor every single previous commitment to Ukraine. "Britain stands shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine, and our support remains unwavering ... Russia should have no doubt about our determination, and we will not relent until we have achieved a lasting and just peace for Ukraine." His office said the intention was to send the clear message that Britain stands 100 percent with Ukraine. This was meant to demonstrate the ongoing support for Ukraine, Burnham said.

The meeting addresses the current state of Ukraine's more than four-year defensive struggle against the aggressor Russia. British and Ukrainian military personnel involved in the training of Ukrainian armed forces also took part in the meeting at the naval base. Around 200 Ukrainian soldiers and sailors had recently taken part in courses on maritime security and mine countermeasures in the United Kingdom. Zelensky wrote at a commanders' briefing on Sunday, "We have submitted to the Russian leadership all the necessary proposals to end the war with an honorable peace."

British support in context

Burnham is the fifth British prime minister to work with Zelensky since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He is thus continuing the line of his predecessors, who, regardless of party affiliation, had positioned themselves as the closest Western allies of the Ukrainian president. His predecessor Keir Starmer had visited the Ukrainian capital less than two weeks earlier as his final foreign trip. Burnham announced that he plans a visit to Kyiv soon.

After his visit to Britain, Zelensky travels on Tuesday to Washington. There he will be received at the White House by US President Donald Trump, who recently called the Ukrainian "brave." Trump said on Monday, "The US president praised the Ukrainian as 'brave.'" Trump is also receiving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the same day. The last meeting between Trump and Zelensky had taken place at the beginning of the month at the NATO summit in Ankara, with another one in mid-June at the G7 summit in Évian.

Continuing travel to Washington

Relations between Trump and Zelensky have improved significantly in recent months. In February 2025, Trump had publicly humiliated Zelensky at a meeting. In April 2025, Zelensky described a brief conversation at the Vatican as a turning point in his relationship with Trump. In a recent interview with right-wing US influencer Laura Loomer, Zelensky said: "That was a historic moment, because we changed our relationship in 15, 20 minutes." Trump briefly commented on Zelensky's meeting with Loomer with "very good."

Parallel meeting with Netanyahu

In parallel to the meeting in Washington, Trump is receiving Netanyahu on Tuesday. Washington is focusing on the war with Iran, although a ceasefire remains in effect. Netanyahu said before the meeting that this was already his eighth meeting with Trump during his second term, "more than with any other international head of state or government." He called the meetings "a great privilege, but also a great responsibility." Both meetings come at a phase in which relations between the governments had recently cooled due to differing views on the next steps against Iran. Trump said on Monday that he and Netanyahu had a "small disagreement" regarding Iran.

Trump also called for tougher G7 sanctions against Russia. A sanctions package targeting countries that import Russian energy sources has been on ice in the Senate for a long time. Shortly before his death, the late US Senator Lindsey Graham announced in Kyiv his support of the White House for a new sanctions package against Russia. A memorial service for Graham will be held in Washington.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon stated that the United States is significantly behind Ukraine in building up its own production of combat drones. The ongoing US program includes orders for just under 200,000 drones. Ukraine is expected to produce six to seven million small attack drones this year. Ukrainian manufacturers participating in a US testing program will have to relocate their production to the United States for future contracts. According to the Pentagon, combat drones should in the future consist entirely of US components.

Ukraine is also receiving a production license for Patriot air defense missiles, although building up production will take months and will not cover Ukraine's needs in view of increasing Russian missile attacks. In mid-July, the Ukrainian head of state set the minimum requirement for the three winter months at 300 Patriot missiles. Washington is itself struggling with dwindling stocks of air defense ammunition due to its war against Iran, according to media reports.

War situation and mutual attacks

The mutual attacks between Russia and Ukraine continued with undiminished intensity overnight into Monday, claiming dead and wounded on both sides. According to Russian figures, the death toll from an attack on Rostov-on-Don rose to five. On the Russian-annexed Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, a drone struck a residential building, injuring ten people, according to the occupation authorities. According to Russian reports, Russia attacked three Ukrainian ports, hit fuel facilities in Odessa and Chornomorsk, and fired on a cargo ship carrying military equipment in Mykolaiv. Caritas reported that a Ukrainian social worker was killed in a Russian missile attack on Kharkiv and her house was completely destroyed.

Ukraine confirmed attacks on Russian energy and export facilities, including a terminal in the Rostov region and oil facilities in the Yaroslavl and Udmurtia regions. With advanced drone technology, Ukraine can strike energy facilities and refineries deep in the Russian hinterland, including the country's largest refinery in Omsk, Siberia. Ukrainian drone attacks have triggered a fuel crisis in Russia.

Domestic political context in the US and Israel

Against the backdrop of election campaigns in the United States and Israel, the meetings in Washington gain additional weight. In just under 100 days, important US midterm congressional elections are due. Israel faces a landmark election in October. Netanyahu reportedly wants to provide Trump with intelligence information on Iran's alleged efforts to rebuild its military capacity. Tehran has rejected such reports for years. The agreed ceasefire as well as the framework agreement between Washington and Tehran are history after the latest escalation. Five months have passed since the start of US-Israeli attacks against Iran; roughly two and a half weeks after the aforementioned meeting in February, the United States and Israel launched joint attacks against Iran.

Zelensky said Russia was helping Iran by providing Tehran with data from satellite observations that enabled Iran to attack US military facilities in the Gulf states. There "is a clear link between the Russian satellite images of these sites and the Iranian attacks – both before the attacks, in their preparation, and afterwards, to assess the damage caused." Zelensky wrote that Kyiv's partners have been informed and that Ukraine's measures help "create the conditions for real diplomacy."

According to the report, Ukrainian President Zelensky is seeking to maintain the momentum of the war in order to force Moscow to the negotiating table. His talks with the British and US heads of government come at a phase in which Britain is expanding its support for Ukraine and the United States is deliberating over a new sanctions package against Russia. The report was broadcast on 28.07.2026 on Deutschlandfunk. The present report draws on AFP for the section on the Trump meeting and on Reuters for the section on US drone production.