Britain's new prime minister, Liz Truss, has accepted an invitation to visit Ukraine and reiterated Britain's "steadfast" support for the country in its war with Russia.
Truss spoke on September 6 with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in one of her first calls with a foreign leader after becoming prime minister.
The prime minister reiterated “the United Kingdom’s steadfast support for Ukraine’s freedom and democracy," according to a readout of the call sent by Truss's office.
"The prime minister said she looked forward to working with the President in the coming weeks and months and was delighted to accept an invitation to visit President [Zelenskiy] in Ukraine soon,” the statement said.
Zelenskiy said on Twitter that he had invited Truss to Ukraine and had "coordinated" with her to put "further pressure" on Russia.
He also thanked the British people for the defense and economic aid, saying "it's important that Britain is ready to further strengthen it."
U.S. President Joe Biden also spoke with Truss by phone. Her office said she looks forward to working with Biden "to tackle shared challenges, particularly the extreme economic problems unleashed by Putin's war."
Truss vowed earlier on September 6 to immediately tackle the challenges Britain faces, including "severe global headwinds caused by Russia's appalling war in Ukraine and the aftermath of COVID."
In her first speech after taking office, Truss listed three priorities: growing the economy through tax cuts, dealing with rising energy costs, and ensuring people get the health care they need.
"As strong as the storm may be, I know that the British people are stronger," she said. "I am confident that together we can ride out the storm. We can rebuild our economy, and we can become the modern brilliant Britain that I know we can be."
Truss officially took the reins as Britain's prime minister after accepting an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to form a government in a meeting at Balmoral, Scotland.
Truss later announced the appointment of James Cleverly as foreign minister. She also named Kwasi Kwarteng as finance minister and Therese Coffey as deputy prime minister and health minister. It is the first time a white man has not occupied one of Britain's four top government positions.
In her speech she vowed to "take action this week" to deal with energy bills and secure Britain's future energy supply.
She previously suggested one of her first moves will be to freeze energy and other consumer bills through a massive $115 billion scheme.
Before he left office, Truss's predecessor, Boris Johnson, pledged his "fervent support" for her and said Russian President Vladimir Putin was "utterly deluded" in thinking he could succeed at "blackmailing and bullying" with gas supplies.
SEE ALSO: Zelenskiy Looks To New U.K. PM To Continue Level Of Support Offered To UkraineOutside No. 10 Downing Street for the last of his appearances as prime minister dating back to 2019, Johnson predicted that the United Kingdom would maintain the "economic strength to give people the cash they need to get through this energy crisis that has been caused by Putin's vicious war."
As Johnson's foreign minister, Truss spent considerable time rallying British and Western support for resolve to punish Russia for the largest foreign invasion in Europe since World War II.
Speaking at a news conference in Moscow on September 6, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov fired a verbal volley at Truss's leadership.
Lavrov said Truss sought to "defend Britain's interests without taking into account the positions of others in any way and without any attempt to compromise."
Moscow has spent years seeking to foment division among Western multilateral organizations and in society, including through the funding of extreme elements, massive covert social media efforts, and energy and other sweeteners to increase cooperation with Russia.
"I don't think this will help Britain to maintain or strengthen its position in the international arena, which has clearly been shaken after it left the European Union," Russia's top diplomat added referring to Brexit.