British defense secretary Gavin Williamson strongly reaffirmed U.K. support for Ukraine and said the country doesn’t stand alone as he undertook a surprise working visit to the country’s south-eastern, Black Sea port city of Odesa on the afternoon of Dec. 21.

He met with Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak aboard the Ukrainian navy’s flagship, the Hetman Sahaydachniy, two days after a Royal Navy warship, HMS Echo, also arrived in the country while other British lawmakers began a tour of the troubled Azov Sea region.