Keir Starmer calls on Ukraine’s allies to provide more long-range weapons

Sir Keir Starmer will urge allies to increase Ukraine’s supply of long-range weapons to strike back at Russia.

The Prime Minister will host leaders including Volodymyr Zelensky in London for talks on how to increase pressure on Moscow and boost Ukraine’s defences.

Measures under consideration will 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 Zelensky, Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen, Dutch premier Dick Schoof and Nato secretary general Mark Rutte will be 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.”

The meeting of the coalition of the willing comes after US President Donald Trump’s plans for talks with Mr Putin were put on hold and he imposed sanctions on Russia’s two biggest oil firms, Rosneft and Lukoil.

Sir Keir said: “From the battlefield to the global markets, as Putin continues to commit atrocities in Ukraine we must ratchet up the pressure on Russia and build on President Trump’s decisive action.

“After all, Ukraine’s security matters to us all, and what happens on the front line of Donetsk today is shaping our collective future for years to come.”

The allies will also discuss how to protect Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, a key demand by Mr Zelensky ahead of the winter.

The Ukrainian leader has warned that “Russia is actively trying to turn the cold weather into weapon” by striking power facilities.

The Prime Minister will announce that a UK missile-building programme has been accelerated to deliver an extra 140 air defence missiles this winter.

The package forms part of the £1.6 billion deal between UK industry and Ukraine in March to provide more than 5,000 lightweight multirole missiles, creating 200 jobs and supporting 700 existing roles at Thales in Belfast.