Zelenskyy and Starmer embrace as Ukrainian leader arrives at No 10 for crunch talks with 'coalition of the willing'
Zelenskyy has met Starmer in London for talks on how to increase pressure on Moscow and boost Ukraine’s defences
Sir Keir Starmer and Volodmyr Zelenskyy embraced as the Ukrainian leader arrived at Downing Street ahead of a meeting of the so-called “coalition of the willing” this evening.
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Sitting alongside Sir Keir ahead of one-on-one talks between the leaders, Mr Zelenskyy hailed Britain’s contribution to Ukraine’s war effort, thanking the King, the prime minister and the British people.
"We're not alone in this situation... from the very beginning of the war, but especially now," Zelenskyy said.
"Thank you for organising with all the partners... thank you for staying with us," the Ukrainian leader added.
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"Always," Sir Keir replied as he hailed the “huge steps forward” taken this week to support Ukraine.
The prime minister added: “Volodymyr, it’s really good to be able to welcome you here in Downing Street again for a really important meeting between the two of us, bilaterally, but also for the coalition of the willing.
“Through seeing His Majesty, through our meeting and through the coalition of the willing, we reaffirm again our support for you and Ukraine and our absolute commitment to meeting the challenge of Russian aggression.
“And whilst you have signalled the path for a way forward and shown that willingness of courage and determination, what we see from Putin is an absolute unwillingness to engage, in fact, the opposite, which is the continued attacks increasingly on civilians and on children and sadly I have to offer you my condolences again, as I did the last time we met and the time before, for those terrible losses.
“I do think that this week we can really bear down on Russian oil and gas. Huge steps forward this week already.
“I think there’s further we can do on capability, particularly… long-range capability, and of course, the vital work for coalition of the willing when it comes to the security guarantees that are necessary.
“So we’ve got really important business to go through with the coalition of the willing today, but it’s very good to be able to welcome you back.”
Sir Keir said: “We stand, as we’ve always stood, as your closest supporter and ally.”
Mr Zelenskyy went on to accuse Russia of wanting to create a “humanitarian disaster” in Ukraine.
He said Russian aggression was “pushing us with such humanitarian disaster” with attacks targeting infrastructure including Ukraine’s energy sector.
It comes after the Ukrainian leader met with King Charles arrived at Windsor Castle.
After arriving at Windsor Castle’s Quadrangle, Mr Zelenskyy was given a royal salute and the Ukrainian national anthem was played.
The Ukrainian president was then invited to inspect the 1st Battalion of the Grenadier Guards.
Dressed in all black, Zelenskyy said “thank you so much” to the guard who led the inspection.
Members of the public were also watching from the gates of the quadrangle.
Mr Zelenskyy was then taken inside the castle for an audience with the King.
After his engagement with the King, Mr Zelenskyy travelled to Downing Street for a meeting with Sir Keir on how to increase pressure on Moscow.
Measures under consideration include further efforts to cripple the economy supporting Vladimir Putin’s war effort by taking Russian oil and gas off the global market and seeking ways to use frozen assets to fund Ukraine’s defences.
Ukrainian president Mr Zelenskyy, Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen, Dutch premier Dick Schoof and Nato secretary general Mark Rutte are in London, while around 20 other leaders will dial in to a meeting of the “coalition of the willing” – the initiative led by Sir Keir and France’s Emmanuel Macron.
Sir Keir will urge leaders to step up the provision of long-range weapons after a successful attack on a chemical plant in Bryansk, Russia, using British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.
Before Friday’s meeting, Sir Keir said: “The only person involved in this conflict who does not want to stop the war is President Putin, and his depraved strikes on young children in a nursery this week make that crystal clear.
“Time and again we offer Putin the chance to end his needless invasion, to stop the killing and recall his troops, but he repeatedly rejects those proposals and any chance of peace.”