Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is on his way to London to meet with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and address Parliament later (Wednesday).
This is Zelensky's second trip outside of Ukraine since the start of the war in February last year.
The president is expected to visit Ukrainian soldiers currently training with British soldiers as part of a program Sunak said he plans to expand.
"President Zelensky's visit to the UK is a testament to his country's courage, determination and fighting spirit, and testament to the strong friendship between our two countries," Sunak said in a statement.
"I am happy to announce that we will expand training for soldiers and ensure that Ukraine will have an army that is able to protect its interests in the future."
Zelensky was scheduled to arrive in Brussels tomorrow to meet with EU leaders in person and address the European Parliament.
However, 48 hours before the secret trip, the visit was reported in the Italian media and then the EPP party of the European Parliament tweeted "We look forward to welcoming you to Brussels Mr President".
The tweet was immediately deleted, but the "Politico" website managed to take a screenshot of it and publish it.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to the participants of the Davos conference in Switzerland (Reuters)
British Prime Minister Rishi Sonak (Photo: Reuters)
European Council President Charles Michel said the European Parliament was to blame for the leak.
His spokesman refused to confirm or deny the visit, saying only that "President Zelensky has an open invitation to visit Brussels."
Britain is also expected to announce additional sanctions today against those who helped Russian President Vladimir Putin "accumulate his personal capital, and companies that profit from the Kremlin's war machine," the statement said.
Zelensky's visit to Britain comes against the background of the reinforcement of Russian forces on the eastern front in Ukraine in anticipation of what Kiev believes is a new attack to mark the anniversary of the Russian invasion.
Sonak promised to continue support for Ukraine and is expected to tell Zelensky that he will speed up the delivery of military equipment to the country.
Britain has trained ten thousand Ukrainian soldiers in the last six months.
20 thousand additional soldiers will arrive in the Kingdom for training later this year, according to the British government.
Last week Ukrainian soldiers arrived in the UK to learn how to operate the Challenge tanks
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