President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting with the newly appointed Secretary of State for Defence of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Grant Shapps, who is visiting our country, according to the presidential website on Thursday morning.

Zelenskyy highly appreciated the level of cooperation with the United Kingdom in the defense sector, which allows significantly expanding the capabilities of the Ukrainian army on the battlefield, in particular thanks to long-range weapons.

The interlocutors also discussed issues of strengthening Ukrainian air defense, which is especially important on the eve of the winter period.

Separately, the adoption by the Group of Seven at the Vilnius NATO summit of a Joint Declaration on support for Ukraine and the start of negotiations with the UK on the conclusion of a corresponding bilateral agreement on security guarantees for Ukraine was noted.

The head of state thanked Great Britain for its strong financial, defense and humanitarian support for Ukraine during the war.

"On behalf of the whole nation, I thank you for everything you are doing for us. We are grateful for your help – military, financial, humanitarian. We greatly appreciate that we can rely on you," the president said.