4/05/2022. Britain's prime minister, Boris Johnson, has become the first western leader to address Ukraine's parliament since Russia invaded. He described the resistance to Moscow as Ukraine's finest hour. Here's your update from the BBC...
The West was too slow to act over Russian aggression in Ukraine, Boris Johnson has told Ukrainian MPs.
By Joseph Lee & Andre Rhoden-Paul
BBC News
Addressing the Ukrainian parliament via video link, he said Ukraine's allies "cannot make the same mistake" as they did over the 2014 Crimea invasion.
He said the West had been "too slow to grasp what was really happening" and "failed" to collectively impose sanctions against Vladimir Putin.
Details of £300m of extra military aid were also announced by Mr Johnson.
The military aid to be sent to Ukraine in the coming weeks will include electronic warfare equipment, a counter-battery radar system, GPS jammers and night-vision devices.
Introduced to MPs in Kyiv by the Ukrainian parliament's speaker, Mr Johnson said Ukraine's allies must be "humble" as the nation was previously invaded in 2014 when Russia seized Crimea, and began the war in Donbas.
"We cannot make the same mistake again," he said.
Speaking to Ukrainian MPs in the chamber holding Ukrainian and Union flags, he said: "This is Ukraine's finest hour, that will be remembered and recounted for generations to come.
"Your children and grandchildren will say that Ukrainians taught the world that the brute force of an aggressor counts for nothing against the moral force of a people determined to be free."
Following the speech - which was delivered through an interpreter - the MPs in the Chamber stood to applaud and then President Zelensky described the UK and Ukraine as now being like "brothers".
"It is not scary when such an evil enemy is against you if such a good friend is next to you. Such as Great Britain" the Ukrainian president said.
He also thanked more than a dozen British celebrities who had voiced their support for Ukraine - including Sir Elton John, Ed Sheeran and the Beckham family.
