KYIV – British Foreign Secretary David Cameron pledged to maintain military support for Ukraine in a surprise visit to Kiev announced on Thursday, with Western attention focused on the Middle East.

The visit by Cameron, a former prime minister, came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the flow of vital artillery ammunition from Western allies had declined since the war between Israel and Hamas began last month.

Cameron was in Kiev and also visited the southern port city of Odessa on his first trip abroad as foreign secretary of the United Kingdom, which has been a staunch ally of Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

“We will continue to give you the moral support, the diplomatic support, the economic support, but above all the military support that you need, not just this year and next year, but for however long it takes,” Cameron said during a Press conference meeting with Zelensky.

“Russia believes it can wait out this war and that the West will eventually turn its attention elsewhere. This couldn’t be further from the truth,” he added in a separate statement.

However, Zelensky said Ukraine was already seeing a decline in supplies as Western allies’ resources were exhausted, telling him that warehouses were “empty” or that there was a “legal minimum” that needed to be kept in reserve .

“Our supplies have gone down,” Zelensky told reporters, referring specifically to the 155-millimeter shells that are widely used on Ukraine’s eastern and southern fronts, saying “they have really slowed down.”

Zelensky thanked Cameron for the trip as the world’s attention increasingly turned to fighting between Israel’s US-allied army and Hamas.

“Now you know that the world is not focused on the situation on our battlefield in Ukraine and dividing the focus does not help,” he told Cameron in a video distributed by the presidential office.

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Zelensky added that the two men had a “good meeting” that discussed “weapons for the front line, strengthening air defense and protecting our population and critical infrastructure.”

He told reporters that Russia is “accumulating” missiles to fire at Ukraine during the winter months but that Ukrainian air defenses are “better than last winter.”

There are increasing reports that Ukrainian forces have gained a foothold on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River in the south of the country, raising hopes in Kiev of substantial advances towards the occupied Crimean region.

But with Ukraine’s top commander recently calling the war a stalemate and no clear signs of a breakthrough on the front, Western allies are worried.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said Cameron also took part in talks with his counterpart Dmytro Kuleba on issues related to arms supplies, weapons production and maritime security in the Black Sea.

Britain’s Foreign Office said Cameron visited the port of Odessa on Thursday – the second day of the visit – and welcomed new measures to insure cargo ships heading to Ukrainian ports despite Russia’s military threats.

“This step will be of great importance for Ukraine’s export earnings and its economic recovery,” Cameron said, according to a statement from the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.

Zelensky, meanwhile, stressed efforts to restart Black Sea shipping routes after Russia withdrew from a deal to secure grain exports from Ukrainian ports earlier this year.

“We were able to provide such protection to the western part of the Black Sea, which now allows the operation of our maritime export corridors,” he told representatives of the Black Sea countries.

In his remarks to reporters, Zelensky also welcomed a summit in California on Wednesday between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden that promised to ease tensions. The talks with the major powers had been “good for us,” he said.

Cameron previously met with Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanishyna, London said, to discuss Ukraine’s aspirations to join the US-led NATO alliance.

“The UK recognizes that Ukraine has its rightful place in NATO and is working with allies to pave the way for Ukraine’s accession by eliminating the need for a membership action plan,” it said Cameron quotes.

The announcement of Cameron’s visit came as the Ukrainian air force said air defense systems shot down 16 Russian attack drones and a cruise missile overnight.