With air force helmet as state gift to Britain, Zelensky pushes for more fighter airplanes

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky,in a mark of assertion of the country'swill to stand against Russia, gifted a helmet from a Ukrainian fighter pilot to the UK House of Commons speaker on February 8. President Zelenskycalled for 'wings for freedom' from the UK and the rest of the world as he gifted the helmet inscribed with words, 'We have freedom, give us wings to protect it'. Initial reports on Zelensky's Britain visit have interpreted the helmet's inscription as Zelensky's plea to ensure continued military support in terms of 'wings' (airplanes) as Ukrainian forces continue their actions in the evolving battlefield of the country.

The Kremlin is yet to react to Zelensky's Britain visit and the UK-Ukraine bilateral show of strength at London's center of power on February 8.

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While addressing UK parliamentarians at Westminster Hall, inside the Palace of Westminster, home to Britain's House of Commons and House of Lords, Zelensky said that bravery 'rewards victory'. Zelensky also acknowledged the pro-Ukraine role of former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson during the initial months of the war.

He added: "We know freedom will win. We know Russia will lose and this will change the world. I appeal to you and the world with simple yet most important words: combat aircraft for Ukraine, wings for freedom. London has stood with Kyiv since day one, from the first seconds and minutes of the full-scale war, Great Britain you extended your helping hand when the world had not yet come to understand how to react."

"Boris: you got others united when it seemed absolutely impossible. You didn’t compromise Ukraine and hence you didn’t compromise your ideals and thus you didn’t compromise the spirit of these great islands."

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This was Volodymyr Zelensky's second foreign trip since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war last year, after a December visit to Washington. French President Emmanuel Macron's office said he would host Zelensky and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Paris later in the day amid expectations that Zelensky would meet European Union leaders in Brussels on Thursday.

The UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Zelensky are due to visit Ukrainian troops being trained on the Challenger 2 tanks that Britain is sending to Ukraine.

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