Britain's former PM Boris Johnson visits Kyiv, pledges help

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson shakes hands with Sun Kuzma, fourteen months of age, as his mother Olga, 33, looks at Johnson during a visit the Church of Sviatoho Apostola Andriia Pervozvannoho (St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called) in Bucha, Kyivs'ka oblast, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Bucha, Ukraine January 22, 2023. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

KYIV (Reuters) - Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Kyiv on a surprise trip on Sunday, meeting President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and pledging that Britain would "stick by Ukraine as long as it takes".

Johnson, who left office in September in the wake of a series of scandals, was prime minister when Russia invaded Ukraine last February and he sought to position London as Kyiv's top ally in the West.