British Prime Minister Andy Burnham is set to receive Volodymyr Zelensky at Downing Street in a pointed display of support for Ukraine after US President Donald Trump’s diesel agreement with Russia.
During the meeting, the prime minister is expected to announce faster military assistance for Kyiv and commit to additional sanctions designed to intensify pressure on Moscow.
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Under the accelerated support package, Britain will speed up deliveries of lightweight multirole missiles to Ukraine. The weapons have been used effectively against Russian jet-powered drones.
The UK will also call on its allies to tighten the economic squeeze on Russia. Chancellor John Healey is expected to use IMF meetings in Bangkok on Monday to press for a ban on Russian liquified natural gas (LNG).
Andy Burnham said the UK is with Ukraine ‘for as long as it takes’
“My message to the Ukrainian people could not be clearer: we are with you for as long as it takes, and we will go further and faster in our support to back your courageous fight for peace in Europe,” he added.
The Downing Street talks follow what Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband called a “very difficult few days” in relations with Washington. Mr Trump’s decision to relax sanctions on Russian diesel came as US midterm elections were being overshadowed by mounting fuel prices.
After the agreement emerged, the UK vowed to “maintain pressure on Russia”. Mr Burnham also spoke to Mr Zelensky by telephone on Saturday, offering his “complete solidarity” with Kyiv.
In recent days, the US president has suggested that Ukraine needs a new leader and claimed Russian President Vladimir Putin is more eager for a peace deal than the government in Kyiv.
Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine suffered ballistic missile attacks with no warning from partners
The Ukrainian president said yesterday that Kyiv had not been warned by its partners before a Russian ballistic missile strike the previous evening, prompting concern that the US may have halted intelligence-sharing with Ukraine.
Mr Trump, however, said the US continued to provide intelligence to Ukraine as he departed the White House for a campaign trip to Alaska later that day.
By last night, Mr Zelensky said Ukraine had endured further ballistic missile attacks without advance warning, including a strike on one of the capital’s main power plants.
Ukraine depends heavily on Western intelligence, especially information from the US, to track incoming Russian attacks and assist with the identification of targets for its own operations.
Kyiv, a city of roughly three million residents, has faced an intensifying barrage of Russian drones and missiles. Energy facilities have increasingly been targeted.
“A Russian ballistic missile attack on Kyiv. Once again, no early warning from our partners,” Mr Zelensky wrote on Facebook.
“The main target was energy infrastructure, specifically the CHP-4. Unfortunately, it was hit,” he added.
Mr Zelensky said Ukrainian air defence systems detected the missiles only when they were approaching the city.
“This is absolutely unjust: when they are destroying our infrastructure, and Ukraine is not even receiving early warnings about ballistic missile launches,” he added.
At least two people died in the attack, which also damaged a residential building in Kyiv’s Desnianskyi district, according to the city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko.
Mr Klitschko said about 20 other people were injured.
Additional reporting AFP
