UK to reopen embassy in Ukraine capital Kyiv, Boris Johnson announces

PM says Indians ‘want Russians out’ – but did not pressure Narendra Modi to change stance

The UK government will re-open the British embassy in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv next week, Boris Johnson has announced.

The embassy was moved away from the city in mid-February, shortly before Vladimir Putin’s Russian forces launched a brutal invasion of the country.

The prime minister said on Friday that it was now safe for UK diplomats to return to Kyiv, after Ukrainian forces successfully fought off Russian advances on the capital.

“The extraordinary fortitude and success of president Zelensky and the Ukrainian people in resisting Russian forces in Kyiv means that I can announce today that we will very shortly, next week, reopen our embassy in Ukraine’s capital city,” he said at a press conference in India.

However, Mr Johnson has not pressured his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to strengthen his position against Putin over the invasion of Ukraine.

Downing Street conceded that Mr Johnson did not raise India’s official neutrality at the UN on the Russian invasion during his meeting in New Delhi.

The PM’s spokesperson said “he was not there to talk to another democratic country about what actions they should take”.

Mr Johnson said on Friday that India and UK were “sticking together and confronting our shared anxiety about autocracies and autocratic coercion around the world”.

Asked whether he has put any pressure on Mr Modi over Russia, Mr Johnson replied: “You have to recognise that Indians and Narendra Modi in particular have come out and been very strong in their language about events in Bucha.”

The PM added: “He has intervened several times with Vladimir Putin, really to ask him what on earth he thinks he’s doing, and where he thinks this is going. What Indians want is peace and they want the Russians out [of Ukraine]. And I totally agree with that.”

More than a dozen countries have already sent diplomats back to Kyiv this month, after Moscow refocused its attention on the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.

The EU reopened its diplomatic mission in Kyiv earlier this month, while Italy, France and Portugal have also sent officials to reopen embassies.

A contingent of British staff have remained in western Ukraine to offer humanitarian and other support over the past two months. Foreign secretary Liz Truss paid tribute to “the bravery and resilience of the embassy team and their work throughout this period”.

It is “symbolically important” for western nations to try “to continue embassy work as normally as possible,” one senior eastern European diplomat told Foreign Policy.