Ukrainian President Zelensky says he will meet Rishi Sunak today for ‘substantive negotiations’
Ukrainian President Zelensky makes surprise visit to Britain as he pushes for more military aid after UK delivers long-range Storm Shadow missiles
Volodymyr Zelensky has flown to the UK to meet Rishi Sunak ahead of a ‘critical’ week in the fight against Russia.
The Ukrainian president has arrived for a surprise visit during which he will conduct “substantial negotiations” with the prime minister at his country residence in Checkers.
Mr Zelensky was in Paris yesterday for talks with Emmanuel Macron following a summit with EU commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Aachen over the weekend.
Mr Sunak will push for more support for Kiev when he attends the G7 Japan and Council of Europe meeting in Reykjavik later this week.
The prime minister vowed to send a “message of solidarity” as Ukraine tries to kick out Vladimir Putin’s invading forces, saying it is in “all of our interests” that Mr Zelensky succeeds.
Today’s talks come after the UK became the first country to deliver long-range precision missiles to Ukraine.
The Storm Shadow cruise missiles, accurate to over 150 miles, will play a key role in the country’s long-awaited counter-offensive against the Russian occupiers.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) is welcomed yesterday by French President Emmanuel Macron (c) upon his arrival at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris yesterday
Mr Zelensky last came to the UK in February when he addressed both Houses of Parliament at Westminster Hall.
Mr Sunak said the UK “will maintain our support for Ukraine”.
The prime minister said: “This is a pivotal moment in Ukraine’s resistance to a terrible war of aggression that they did not choose or provoked.
“They need the continued support of the international community to defend themselves against the barrage of relentless and indiscriminate attacks that have been their daily reality for more than a year.
“We must not abandon them.
The front lines of Putin’s offensive war may be in Ukraine, but the fault lines stretch across the globe. It is in all of our interests that Ukraine succeeds and that (Vladimir) Putin’s barbarity is not rewarded.
“That’s why the UK supports our support for Ukraine – from tanks to training, from ammunition to armored vehicles. And this message of solidarity will ring loud in all my meetings with fellow world leaders in the coming days.”