Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets Volodymyr Zelensky in Downing Street as Ukraine’s president seeks to boost European support for his country’s war effort.
The talks took place as the conflict with Russia enters its third winter and amid expectations that Donald Trump, who is widely seen as having low support for Ukraine, will win the US presidential election in November. I was disappointed.
A red carpet was rolled out for Mr Zelensky in Downing Street, and the two leaders shook hands and hugged each other on the steps of No. 10.
Sir Keir will also later meet Mark Rutte, the new leader of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military alliance, in No. 10.
Prime Minister Rutte will take part in talks with Lord Kiel and Lord Zelensky before holding a one-on-one meeting with the Prime Minister. Zelenskiy will then continue his European diplomatic career with visits to France and Italy.
Sir Keir said it was “very important that we can demonstrate our continued commitment to supporting Ukraine” and that it was an opportunity to “consider our plans and discuss them in more detail”.
The agenda for the Downing Street meeting has not been made public, but President Zelenskiy is likely to ask Sir Keir for permission to use British-supplied missiles on Russian territory.
He has publicly called for his military to be allowed to use Storm Shadow missiles to target Russian military logistics targets deep in Russia, but efforts have so far failed. The United States would also need to authorize the use of missiles inside Russia.
Ukraine had been hoping for a move on the use of long-range missiles at a summit scheduled to bring together the country’s biggest military backers in Ramstein, Germany, later this week.
However, the summit was postponed because US President Joe Biden, who is overseeing the emergency response to Hurricane Milton, which caused widespread damage in Florida, was unable to attend.
Russia has made modest but strategically important advances on the battlefield in recent weeks, but a decisive breakthrough remains elusive from either side.
Zelenskiy is acutely aware that a return to the White House by President Trump could make Ukraine more dependent on European allies such as Britain, which could dampen U.S. support for Ukraine.
Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022, the UK has given Ukraine £12.8 billion in military and other aid, and more than 200,000 Ukrainian refugees have temporarily moved to the UK. I have a permanent residence.
Since taking office, the prime minister has continued the previous Conservative government’s policy of providing strong financial and diplomatic support to Ukraine’s war effort.
It will be Mr Zelensky’s second visit to Downing Street since Sir Keir was elected Prime Minister. In July, the President of Ukraine became the first foreign leader to be invited to No. 10 after the change of government.
Sir Keir, who remained opposition leader, also met with Mr Zelensky in Ukraine in February and with Mr Zelensky at the NATO summit in July.
At a meeting of NATO countries, they committed Ukraine to an “irreversible path” to membership, which the Ukrainian government considers essential to its national security.
