Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is in London this Friday for a meeting of the country’s key supporters, where Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to call on Europe to deliver more long-range missiles to help Kyiv maintain its momentum against Moscow.
The London gathering of the so-called “coalition of the willing” comes as Ukraine’s Western allies ramp up pressure on Moscow, with both the United States and the European Union announcing fresh sanctions this week targeting Russian energy exports in a bid to cripple its war economy.
EU leaders have also moved closer to securing funds for Ukraine’s defence over the next two years, though they stopped short of approving a vast “reparations loan” backed by frozen Russian assets.
“On Friday, the Prime Minister will call on allies to step up the gifting of long-range capabilities to ensure Ukraine can build on its success of this week,” Downing Street said in a statement ahead of the summit.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and the Netherlands’ Prime Minister Dick Schoof are expected to attend the meeting in person, while other leaders – including French President Emmanuel Macron – will join by videolink.
Zelensky pushes EU to unlock €140bn in frozen Russian assets
Missiles and momentum
Starmer’s push for more missile deliveries comes after Zelensky’s recent visit to Washington failed to secure the long-range Tomahawk missiles he has been pleading for. The Ukrainian leader argues such weapons are essential to strike Russian targets deep behind enemy lines.
The nearly four-year conflict continues to grind on despite Western efforts to push Russian President Vladimir Putin towards negotiations.
In recent days, Moscow has launched a new wave of deadly drone and missile attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, signalling its determination to wear Kyiv down as winter approaches.
According to Downing Street, Starmer will also urge European leaders to “finish the job on Russian sovereign assets to unlock billions of pounds to fund Ukraine’s defences."
His appeal follows Thursday’s EU summit in Brussels, where leaders instructed the European Commission to explore options for supporting Ukraine financially over the next two years.
On the table is a potential €140 billion “reparations loan” using profits generated by some €200 billion in frozen Russian central bank assets.
While Thursday’s summit conclusions avoided direct mention of the proposed loan, the statement – endorsed by all member states except Hungary – invited the Commission to present “as soon as possible” its options for future financial support.
Zelensky welcomed the outcome as a clear sign of “political support” for the idea of using Russian assets to sustain Ukraine’s war effort.
European Council President Antonio Costa said the bloc had “committed to ensure that Ukraine’s financial needs will be covered for the next two years”.
“Russia should take good note of this,” he told reporters. “Ukraine will have the financial resources it needs to defend itself.”
Shadow fleet targeted as EU advances frozen assets plan for Ukraine
Building Ukraine’s defences
Zelensky has been pressing for additional long-range weapons for weeks, hoping to seize on what he views as shifting dynamics in Washington.
His latest appeal follows US President Donald Trump’s apparent frustration with Putin after an inconclusive summit in Alaska earlier this month.
Although the UK and France already supply Ukraine with Storm Shadow and Scalp cruise missiles – and Ukraine produces its own Flamingo and Neptune systems – Kyiv remains eager to obtain Germany’s Taurus missiles, a move Berlin has long resisted over fears of escalating tensions with Moscow.
At the London summit, Starmer is also set to announce the acceleration of a British programme to manufacture air defence missiles, which aims to provide Ukraine with more than 5,000 weapons in the coming months.
Around 140 lightweight multirole missiles are expected to be delivered to Ukraine this winter, reinforcing the message that Britain intends to keep Kyiv’s defences strong well into 2026.
(With AFP)
