Johnson and Zelensky held talks over roast beef dinner throughout Kyiv go to

The Prime Minister held a bilateral assembly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over a dinner of roast beef throughout his go to to Kyiv on Saturday, Downing Road mentioned.

Boris Johnson was within the Ukrainian capital for round 5 hours, and travelled by automotive, helicopter, army airplane and prepare, in response to a No 10 spokeswoman.

He began by assembly with Mr Zelensky for an hour, adopted by a 30-minute stroll to Independence Sq..

“On arrival in Kyiv, the PM and President Zelensky met for an hour – this was a gathering simply with the 2 of them. They then went on a 30-minute stroll collectively to Independence Sq.,” the spokeswoman mentioned.

“You’ll have seen a few of the footage – he met with Ukrainians and handed the memorials which were put as much as victims of the conflict.”

After returning, they held an extra full bilateral assembly over dinner, she added.

The pair had a starter of goats cheese salad and rooster soup, adopted by a primary course of roast beef and cherry dumplings for dessert.

Requested who accompanied the Prime Minister on the go to, the spokeswoman mentioned: “It was a really small delegation. I consider it was one member of his non-public workplace after which safety.”

She mentioned Mr Johnson was in Kyiv for “round 5 hours”.

“By way of the whole lot of the go to, he left on Friday night and he travelled in a single day, and he arrived again within the UK on the Sunday morning,” she mentioned.

The spokeswoman mentioned that as a consequence of “operational issues” it was not potential to enter “an excessive amount of element” in regards to the preparations, however mentioned Mr Johnson travelled by automotive, helicopter, army airplane and prepare to get to Kyiv and again.

Requested about his “emotional response” to seeing the destruction, she referred to a earlier assertion by which the Prime Minister praised the “heroism” of Ukrainians within the face of Russian aggression.

She mentioned the go to had been in planning for “a number of weeks” however the ultimate resolution was taken on the recommendation of safety officers on the day of journey.

Mr Johnson is now at his nation retreat, Chequers, with a view to having “a little bit of a break” for a few days.

The spokeswoman mentioned the intention is for the Prime Minister to “get some relaxation and spend a while with household”.

He’ll proceed to obtain updates, notably on Ukraine, and will probably be collaborating in conferences all through, she mentioned.

The spokeswoman was additionally requested about Mr Johnson being introduced with a ceramic cockerel, which has turn out to be a logo of resistance in Ukraine, as he walked via the streets of Kyiv with Mr Zelensky.

Requested if the Ukrainian president had defined the importance of the merchandise, and whether or not it will be positioned within the Downing Road workplace, she mentioned: “I perceive that he took that again with him to Chequers, so he has that.

“And sure, he’s conscious that it has turn out to be a well-known image of resistance.”