Andy Burnham pledges 'stone cloak' jamming tech for Kyiv's drones

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham held his first meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a UK naval base on Monday, pledging new "Stone Cloak" jamming technology to help safeguard 'drones on the battlefield.

The meeting on the dockside and on board an aircraft carrier in the southern city of Portsmouth was Burnham's first bilateral with a foreign leader and comes ahead of a visit by Zelenskyy to Washington on Tuesday aimed at ending the four-year war with Russia.

"We are with Ukraine 100 percent. I am personally with you 100 percent, Mr President," Burnham assured Zelenskyy after the two men, both wearing similar dark casual clothes, shook hands on the dockside.


Zelenskyy thanked Burnham for an "important signal of support" and said he had invited Burnham to visit Ukraine, after the leaders spoke within hours of the new PM taking office.

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Vowing to "honour every commitment this country has made to Ukraine," Burnham said Britain was "going further" and was "providing new, home-grown jamming technology to protect Ukrainian drones" as both Moscow and Kyiv intensify drone and missile strikes.

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"It will help them to hit their targets and help save Ukrainian lives. It also shows the kind of innovation our industries can deliver together," Burnham said.

Afterwards, Zelenskyy wrote on X he was "grateful" to Britain for "today's decision to provide Ukraine with electronic warfare technologies."