Starmer welcomes Zelenskyy and key allies to discuss 'urgent need' to bolster Ukraine
The leaders shook hands and briefly posed for photographs outside No 10 on Sunday evening
Volodymyr Zelenskyy met the Prime Minister and the leaders of France and Germany on Sunday in which they agreed on the "urgent need" to bolster Ukraine in its defence against Russia.
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The Ukrainian president said Ukraine will not "silently die" and could maintain its recent surge of attacks deep into Russia if the war continues, as he arrived in London.
Sir Keir Starmer hosted discussions between Mr Zelenskyy, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz, at Downing Street on Sunday evening.
The four leaders shook hands warmly and posed for a group picture outside No 10. They smiled to reporters in Downing Street before the French president and German chancellor headed to their cars.
On his way to his car, Mr Macron greeted reporters in French saying "hello gentlemen and ladies".
The Prime Minister and the Ukrainian leader then re-entered No 10.
Read more: Ukraine strikes oil targets around St Petersburg in ‘unprecedented’ drone attack
Read more: Putin dismisses Zelensky's calls for face-to-face meeting saying he does 'not see the point'
A Downing Street spokesperson said: "The leaders underlined the urgent need to scale up the production of interceptors and co-develop anti-ballistic missile and deep strike capabilities, and to support the future sustainability of the Ukrainian armed forces."
The meeting comes on the day a Russian drone strike damaged a storage centre for spent nuclear fuel nine miles from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
The attack sparked a fire that was extinguished within an hour and radiation remains within safe levels, officials said.In a post on social media, Mr Zelensky said the focus of Sunday’s meeting would be "our defence in the war, greater cooperation for the security of all of Europe in the area of air defence" and discussion of diplomatic prospects.
"Europe must be part of the negotiations and must be strong," he said.
A large-scale Ukrainian drone attack targeted St Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, on Saturday, underscoring Kyiv’s growing ability to hit deep inside Russia..
"We will not just silently die, we will respond,"Mr Zelensky told Sky News on Sunday.
"We will be stronger and stronger each day."
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said the incident was "deeply concernin" due to the large amounts of nuclear material held at the facility.
On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected a proposal by Mr Zelensky for face-to-face talks on the four-year-old war, claiming he saw “no point” in a meeting.
The No 10 spokesperson added: "They condemned Russia’s large-scale missile and drone attacks – including the repeated use of the Oreshnik missiles – on Ukrainian cities with a tragic toll on civilians, as well as irresponsible and dangerous Russian drone incursions into Nato territory.
"They expressed their condolences to all the victims.
"They discussed how to use the upcoming G7 summit at Evian, the next meeting of the coalition of the willing, and the Nato summit at Ankara to best coordinate further support for Ukraine based on its prioritised needs, including further pressure on Russia’s war economy and an increased pledge of military and defence support for Ukraine at the Nato summit."