Ukraine has appointed a new government led by the first new prime minister in five years, tasked with boosting domestic weapons production and reviving Ukraine’s loan-dependent economy. Follow the latest below.
Thursday 17 July 2025 16:13, UK
Sir Keir Starmer has been asked by our political editor Beth Rigby how much of a game-changer Donald Trump’s weapons deal will be for Ukraine.
“We’ve been working with our allies and with the US for a very long time now, but particularly intensely in recent weeks,” he says.
“To get to the position we’re in now, where the president [Trump] has made it absolutely clear that he wants Putin to move and backing that up with capability… that is really important.”
Starmer added that he had a “long discussion” about the war in Ukraine with his German counterpart today, and insisted “we are working hard with the US on this”.
Merz reiterated that he was grateful to Trump after expressing his readiness to assist Ukraine in recent days.
He added that defence ministers will be reaching arrangements “on the logistics side of things” regarding the delivery of Patriot air defence systems.
Merz does not mention Germany’s Taurus missiles but says Ukraine will receive additional support that will help with long-range attacks “very shortly, very soon”.
“Ukraine will be much better positioned and use these systems and get the support of us with regard to those systems in the weeks and months to come.”
Back here in the UK, Sir Keir Starmer has been speaking after signing a new defence treaty with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Starmer said the war in Ukraine was among the topics discussed by the two leaders today.
“We’re leading the work to get the best kit to Ukraine as fast as possible, we’ll keep pushing this forward with the US and other allies because ultimately our security starts in Ukraine,” he said.
Starmer added that the new deal represents “a partnership with a purpose”.
Merz told reporters that the treaty relates to the “major challenges of our time”.
Russia was “shaking the European security architecture” since Britain’s exit from Europe.
“It is under these conditions that we aim to secure the freedom, prosperity of the people of both our countries,” he added.
Merz praised the “very important initiative” Donald Trump took on Monday when he announced the US is ready to provide weapons to Ukraine in a move that would be purchased and paid for by European partners.
“Germany wants to make an important contribution here… we need to have clarity as to how the US will replace the weapons systems that the Europeans will transfer to Ukraine,” he said.
“All of that will increase the pressure on Putin to finally negotiate about peace in Europe and the US.”
Russia’s foreign ministry has said Moscow “did not accept threats” after Donald Trump threatened to impose severe tariffs unless a peace deal was reached within 50 days.
Trump provided few details on how the tariffs would be implemented, but he described them as secondary tariffs, meaning they would target Russia’s trading partners in an effort to isolate Moscow in the global economy.
The US president also announced a deal to boost weapons shipments heading to Ukraine.
Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for Russia’s foreign ministry, said Trump’s decision to supply Ukraine with new missiles was a signal to “continue the slaughter” and a rejection of peace efforts.
Ukraine has a new government led by a new prime minister, Yulia Svyrydenko.
Here we take a look at the politician charged with boosting domestic weapons production and reviving Ukraine’s loan-dependent economy.
Svyrydenko trained as an economist but has been working in government since 2019.
The 39-year-old climbed the ranks from local politics to deputy minister, then economy minister and now prime minister.
She played an important role in talks with the US over access to Ukrainian minerals and investment in Ukraine’s reconstruction.
The deal helped ease relations between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy after their infamous showdown in the Oval Office in February.
More recently, Svyrydenko led last week’s Ukraine recovery conference in Rome, securing agreements worth more than €10bn.
“The state apparatus has no right to waste the resources and potential of our country,” Svyrydenko said after meeting Zelenskyy at the start of the week.
“Ukraine deserves to be among the strongest economies in Europe.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has given his reaction after the reshuffle in Ukraine’s “renewed” government.
“Starting today, government officials should begin implementing the tasks that have been set,” he wrote in a post on X.
“I thank all the members of parliament who supported the candidacies of the prime minister, deputy prime ministers and ministers.”
Yulia Svyrydenko has been voted in as the country’s new prime minister (see 10.38).
Opposition politician Oleksiy Honcharenko wrote on Telegram that 262 MPs voted for Svyrydenko, a comfortable majority in the 450-seat parliament.
Svyrydenko’s new cabinet includes two of her former deputies – Oleksiy Sobolev as minister of economy, agriculture and environment, and Taras Kachka as a deputy prime minister for European integration – as well as Svitlana Hrynchuk as energy minister.
Elsewhere, Denys Shmyhal has been approved as the country’s new defence minister (see previous post).
He submitted his resignation as prime minister this week as part of the government reshuffle.
Ukraine’s parliament has approved Denys Shmyhal as the country’s new defence minister, it has been announced.
Yesterday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he signed the required documents to nominate Shmyhal as the country’s new defence minister.
Shmyhal submitted his resignation as prime minister this week as part of a government reshuffle.
Announcing the news, Zelenskyy said Shmyhal would be responsible for ramping up Ukraine’s weapons production to help the country “push the war into Russia”.
As we reported earlier, Yulia Svyrydenko has become Ukraine’s new prime minister.
The US is diverting a Swiss order for Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine, the Swiss defence ministry has said.
Switzerland ordered five Patriot systems in 2022 but has been informed the US defence department will “reprioritise the delivery of Patriot systems to support Ukraine”.
Delivery to Switzerland of the systems, worth billions of dollars, was scheduled to begin in 2027 and be completed in 2028.
For context: This week, Donald Trump announced that an undisclosed number of the air defence systems would be sent for use in Ukraine – and that the European Union would pay for them.
Germany, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the UK, the Netherlands and Canada all want to be part of the initiative to fund the Patriot systems, NATO chief Mark Rutte said on Monday.
And Denmark and Sweden have both expressed their readiness to help deliver US weapons to Ukraine via NATO.
Images have emerged of Ukrainian troops firing anti-aircraft machine guns at a Russian drone over the Kharkiv region overnight.
Kharkiv is Ukraine’s second-largest city and is located in the northeast of the country.
It’s been frequently targeted since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Ukraine’s parliament has voted in favour of a new government under prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko, according to politician Yaroslav Zheleznyak.
The overhaul is aimed at revitalising wartime management as prospects for peace with Russia grow dim.
The new cabinet includes two of Svyrydenko’s former deputies – Oleksiy Sobolev as minister of economy, agriculture and environment, and Taras Kachka as a deputy prime minister for European integration – as well as Svitlana Hrynchuk as energy minister.
Svyrydenko herself was appointed the country’s first new prime minister in five years earlier today.
She has been tasked by Volodymyr Zelenskyy with boosting domestic weapons production and reviving Ukraine’s loan-dependent economy.
Russian troops claim they have captured three villages in three different parts of Ukraine.
The Kremlin’s defence ministry has named the three settlements as Kamianske in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, Dehtiarne in the northeastern Kharkiv region, and Popiv Yar in the eastern Donetsk region.
Sky News cannot independently verify the battlefield report.
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