New UK PM Andy Burnham to visit Kyiv on first foreign trip, reaffirms support to Ukraine

NEW: Andy Burnham to make Kyiv his first foreign trip as UK Prime Minister, co-chairing the 'Coalition of the Willing' meeting alongside Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz.

Andy Burnham's first foreign trip as Prime Minister is a war zone.

The new UK leader is heading to Kyiv, and he's not just showing up for a handshake. He'll co-chair the Coalition of the Willing meeting alongside Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Friedrich Merz, which puts him at the top table of Europe's Ukraine effort on day one. You can see him here arriving with officials on the ground.

First trips are the loudest signal a new leader gets to send, and Burnham chose Kyiv over Washington, over Brussels, over everywhere. That tells you where he thinks Britain's weight belongs, and it tells Moscow the change of tenant in Downing Street changes nothing about the policy.

Three leaders, one table, one war grinding on. Whatever comes out of that room will be Burnham's foreign policy in miniature, written on his very first week.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.