BORIS Johnson has travelled to Kyiv to meet the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The Prime Minister has travelled to the Ukrainian capital hours after the European Commission recommended the country be granted candidate status to join the EU.

On arrival, Johnson tweeted a photograph of himself with the Ukrainian President, captioned: “Mr President, Volodymyr, it is good to be in Kyiv again.”

A message on Zelenskyy’s Telegram account read: “Many days of this war have proved that Great Britain’s support for Ukraine is firm and resolute.

“Glad to see our country’s great friend Boris Johnson in Kyiv again.”

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Video from the Ukrainian government showed Zelenskyy warmly greeting the Prime Minister with a “hi, Boris” as he arrived at the presidential palace.

It is the second visit he has made to the city since the Russian invasion in February and comes as President Vladimir Putin addressed the St Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday.

He used his speech to herald the dawning of a “new world order”.

The BBC reports that Putin told the audience: “Russia is entering the era that is beginning as a powerful, sovereign nation.

"We will definitely use the colossal opportunities provided by current times and will be even stronger.

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"It is obvious that the rules, the essence of the new world order, will be set by strong sovereign states."

Others, he said, are "doomed to remain rightless colonies".

Johnson has offered training to up to 10,000 Ukrainian soliders every 120 days, pledging: "We will be with you until you ultimately prevail."

He said: "As Ukrainian soldiers fire UK missiles in defence of your nation’s sovereignty, they do so also in defence of the very freedoms we take for granted.

“That is why I have offered President Zelensky a major new military training programme that could change the equation of this war –harnessing that most powerful of forces, the Ukrainian determination to win."

Ursula von der Layen, the European Commission President, said Ukrainians have proved they were “ready to die” for “the European dream”.

There are conditions to Ukraine joining the EU. The country has been told it must implement judicial and anti-corruption reforms.

Its application must be signed off by all member states, though major players such as France, Germany and Italy have backed the announcement.

Zelenskyy has praised the UK Government's response to the war, with the President welcoming the news earlier this month when Johnson narrowly survived a challenge to his leadership.  

Johnson was conspicuously absent at a key meeting of “red-wall” Tories in Yorkshire on Friday and his staff kept his whereabouts under wraps until just before it was announced he was in Kyiv.

The meeting of the Northern Research Group comes at a critical time for the Prime Minister as Wakefield gears up for a by-election which could provide yet another blow to Johnson.

The seat was left vacant after disgraced former Tory MP Imran Ahmad Khan was jailed after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting an underage boy.

It will be a tightly contested race as it was a seat the Conservatives turned in the 2019 general election, having elected Labour MPs since 1932