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By Diana Magnay, Moscow correspondent
It is certainly a day for robust British military diplomacy, with the UK participating in strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen and the prime minister popping up in Kyiv.
It is also, as Rishi Sunak made clear, a strong signal to Vladimir Putin that the UK will not allow itself to be distracted by events in the Middle East and that its commitment to Ukraine remains unfaltering.
It needs to be, given the fact that the (far more substantial) latest $60bn aid package for Ukraine still hangs in the balance in the US and that the EU too is trying to find workarounds to appease Hungary and unlock the €50bn in aid it has earmarked for Kyiv for the next four years.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy needs a whole range of weapons but, perhaps most importantly, sustained air defence capabilities and drones, drones and more drones.
That is why the UK-Ukraine security package has allocated £200m to just that, which it calls the largest delivery of drones from any nation to Ukraine.
Drones will continue to be crucial for both sides this year and Russia has a steady supplier in Iran, while North Korea is providing ammunition.
Russia’s weapons factories are on overdrive and defence spending will double in 2024, up to 6 percent of GDP.
That all means that Ukraine needs all the help that it can get.