No10 said the PM will use the Ukranian wartime leader’s visit to reiterate the UK’s ‘rock-solid’ support for Kyiv in their battle against Russian despot Vladimir Putin’s barbaric attacks
Andy Burnham will welcome Ukraine’s Zelensky to Downing Street on Wednesday(Image: ANDY RAIN/POOL/EPA/Shutterstock)
Andy Burnham is set to welcome Volodymyr Zelensky to Downing Street – after pledging to stand with the Ukrainian people for as long as it takes.
Downing Street said the Prime Minister will use the Ukrainian wartime leader’s visit to London on Wednesday to reiterate the UK’s “rock-solid” support for Kyiv in their battle against Russian despot Vladimir Putin’s barbaric attacks.
The public show of solidarity comes just days after the US President Donald Trump launched an extraordinary attack on Mr Zelensky, claiming it was “time for Ukraine] to get a new President”.
The pair clashed after the US announced a surprise deal to buy diesel from the Kremlin – undermining western sanctions against Moscow’s war chest – and an “energy ceasefire” between Ukraine and Russia.
Mr Burnham said ahead of the visit: “Our rock-solid support to Ukraine is vital for keeping us safe here in the UK and ensuring those on the frontlines have the equipment they need to push back Russia.
“My message to the Ukrainian people could not be clearer, we are with you for as long as it takes, and we will go further and faster in our support to back your courageous fight for peace in Europe. It is not just the right thing to do, but it’s the necessary thing to do. Russia’s aggression cannot be allowed to succeed on our continent.”
The Prime Minister is also expected to tell Ukraine’s leader that UK ministers have been ordered to draw up further sanctions. Britain will also step up support with the delivery of £45 million of surface-to-air missiles deliveries, No10 added.
This includes deliveries of British Lightweight Multirole Missiles (LMMs), which they said had proven effective against jet-powered drones striking areas far beyond the frontlines of the war, including Kyiv.
Chancellor John Healey will also use meetings at this week’s International Monetary Fund (IMF) summit in Bangkok to urge allies to fully implement an equivalent ban on Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports.
Mr Healey said: “Conflict in the Middle East and in Europe is hitting people across the world. As the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Putin continues, our commitment to the Ukrainian people is unshakeable. I urge partners to back the ban on Russian LNG, like we have done in the UK, to curtail the war chest funding Putin so desperately wants.”
On Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, who visited Kyiv last week, also suggested Britain could use frozen Russian assets to directly fund Ukraine’s fightback against Putin’s invasion.
He claimed the EU and Britain could revisit plans to use the full value of frozen Russian assets, rather than just the profits and interest accrued on them. UK sanctions have frozen more than £25billion of Russian assets since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion.
Speaking at the Warsaw Security Forum, Mr Miliband claimed Russia was not winning the war, but that Vladimir Putin’s advisers were afraid to tell him the truth.
He said: “Europe has big decisions to make, including on Russian sovereign assets. I think we need to return to this issue.
“Britain is willing to do this alongside the European Union, because we know that every wrong message that is sent to President Putin is a message that sets back our security and sets back the Ukrainian cause, and we need to send the right messages.”
The senior minister, who last week visited Ukraine, praised the resolve of its people, adding that it had shocked Putin.
He said: “It is a resolve which four and a half years ago Putin thought would not be there; he thought our resolve wouldn’t be there either. We have proved him wrong on both of these fronts.
“I do think, by the way, in our narrative, we should talk about the barbarity of Putin. We are right to do so. We should also talk about the fact, as I did at the UN Security Council, he is not winning this war. And the truth is Lavrov and others don’t want to tell him the truth: he is not winning this war, and that is very important.”
