To meet the King: Charles has lunch with Zelenskyy ahead of 'Coalition of the Willing' talks
Zelenskyy will meet Starmer in London for talks on how to increase pressure on Moscow and boost Ukraine’s defences
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived at Windsor Castle for an audience with the King during a visit to the UK.
Listen to this article
Mr Zelenskyy will later head to a meeting with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and other leaders from the coalition of the willing for talks on how to increase pressure on Moscow and boost Ukraine’s defences.
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.
Read more: Ukraine’s drone revolution is speaking the only language Trump understands: Power
Read more: Prince Andrew 'convinced' King wants him out of Royal Lodge 'so Queen can move in'
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 traveled to Downing Street for a meeting with Sir Keir Starmer 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.
Sir Keir hugged the Ukrainian president as he arrived outside No 10.
The two leaders will have a one-to-one discussion before holding talks with the coalition of the willing later on Friday.
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.”