Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky met King Charles III at Windsor Castle on Friday, October 24th, before a meeting of Kyiv’s key backers, where Britain’s prime minister will call on Europe to deliver more long-range missiles.
Kyiv’s Western allies have raised pressure on Moscow as the war enters its fourth winter, with the United States and European Union both announcing new sanctions this week on Russian energy aimed at crippling its war economy. EU leaders also took steps towards funding Ukraine’s defence for another two years, although they stopped short of greenlighting a mammoth “reparations loan” backed by frozen Russian assets.
Later on Friday, British PM Keir Starmer will urge allies to “step up the gifting of long-range capabilities to ensure Ukraine can build on its success”, his office said in a statement ahead of the so-called ‘coalition of the willing’ meeting.
Starmer’s call for more missiles comes after Zelensky failed to secure long-range Tomahawks during a recent visit to Washington, despite multiple pleas for the weapons he says Ukraine needs to hit targets deep inside Russia. U.S. president Donald Trump turned the Ukrainian leader’s request down.
Nevertheless, Starmer will urge European leaders to “finish the job on Russian sovereign assets to unlock billions of pounds to fund Ukraine’s defences”, according to the Downing Street statement.
The nearly four-year war continues to grind on despite U.S. and European efforts to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table, with Moscow battering Ukraine’s energy grid this week in deadly drone and missile attacks. Although, it can be seen that the U.S. would sit down and negotiate with Moscow, while the EU wants the war to be continued.
