UK says allies should boost Ukraine's long-range missile reach

LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting in London on Friday (Oct 24) that there was more that Western allies could do to bolster Kyiv's long-range missile capability.

Starmer hosted Zelenskyy at his Downing Street residence ahead of an in-person and virtual get-together of Ukraine's key backers in the UK capital.

"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," the UK leader said.

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.

Starmer hugged Zelenskyy as the Ukrainian president arrived in Downing Street for initial one-to-one discussions ahead of the so-called "coalition of the willing" meeting, telling him this week had seen "huge steps forward".

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and the Netherlands' Dick Schoof were set to attend the London summit, with other leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron joining virtually.

Earlier Friday Zelenskyy held another meeting with Britain's King Charles III - their third this year.

The Ukrainian national anthem played at the almost 1,000-year-old Windsor Castle west of London before he had an audience with the king.

"REPARATIONS LOAN"

The latest diplomatic activity followed Zelenskyy's visit to Washington last week, when President Donald Trump rebuffed his pleas for long-range Tomahawks to hit targets deep inside Russia.

The nearly four-year war continues to grind on despite US 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.

Starmer will also urge European leaders Friday to "finish the job on Russian sovereign assets to unlock billions of pounds to fund Ukraine's defences", Downing Street said in a statement.

It came a day after EU leaders tasked the European Commission to move ahead with options for funding Ukraine for two more years, leaving the door open for a 140 billion euro (US$162 billion) "reparations loan".

The EU froze around 200 billion euros of Russian central bank assets after Moscow's tanks rolled into Ukraine, and the European Commission has proposed using the funds to provide a huge loan to Kyiv - without seizing them outright.

But the plan has faced strong objections from Belgium, where the bulk of the frozen Russian assets are held.

The broadly worded conclusions of Thursday's summit in Brussels - adopted by all member states except Hungary - did not mention the loan directly, instead inviting the commission "to present, as soon as possible, options for financial support".

"FINANCIAL RESOURCES"

Zelenskyy nonetheless welcomed the outcome as a signal of "political support" for the notion of using Russian assets to keep Kyiv in the fight.

He has been pleading for weeks for more long-range weapons, hoping to capitalise on Trump's growing frustration with Putin after a summit in Alaska failed to yield a breakthrough.

But the Ukrainian leader left Washington empty-handed last week as Trump seemed to eye a fresh diplomatic breakthrough on the back of the Gaza ceasefire deal.

The UK and France already supply Ukraine with Storm Shadow and Scalp long-range missiles, while Ukraine also produces its own Flamingo and Neptune missiles.

Kyiv is particularly keen to get the German equivalent Taurus missiles, a move which Berlin has long resisted over fears that it would cause tensions with Russia to further escalate.

On Friday, Starmer will also announce the "acceleration" of a programme to manufacture air defence missiles, which aims to supply Ukraine with more than 5,000 such weapons.

Around 140 "lightweight-multirole missiles" will be delivered to Ukraine this winter, according to the Downing Street statement.