Oct. 24 (UPI) — European leaders arrived in London on Friday morning for a Ukraine summit in which British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was expected to urge the continent to ramp up “gifting” of long-range missiles to Kyiv.
The meeting to explore ways to increase pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin will be attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Dutch Prime Minister Richard Schoof and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Downing Street said in a news release.
No. 10 said around 20 other global leaders were expected to attend the ‘Coalition of the Willing’ meeting virtually.
Starmer said the gathering was aimed at bolstering Ukraine while crippling Russia’s war machine following Putin’s sabotaging of U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewed diplomatic initiative, which he said demonstrated again Putin was not serious about ending the illegal war he launched in 2022.
The prime minister said he would push for Russian oil and gas to be taken off the market, complete the job of redirecting frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s defense and boost its long-range ability to strike Russia’s energy infrastructure.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (L) talks to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at No.10 Downing Street, London, on Friday. Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI
“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.
“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,” Starmer said, referring to the U.S. administration’s imposition Wednesday of sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (L) talks to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at No.10 Downing Street, London, on Friday. Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI
Starmer announced that a U.K. program to build missiles for Ukraine had been expedited to deliver more than 140 extra missiles ahead of schedule to bolster the country’s ability to defend against Russian aerial attacks this coming winter.
The program is part of a $2.1 billion contract the Ministry of Defense signed in March with Thales in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to build 5,000 lightweight multirole missiles for Ukraine.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (L) gives a hug to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as he is greeted at No.10 Downing Street, London, on Friday. Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI
The European leaders arrive fresh from a meeting in Brussels on Thursday where EU member states formally adopted sweeping sanctions targeting Russia’s energy sector, which it said remained Russia’s number one source of income to fund the war against Ukraine.
The sanctions, the 19th such package from the bloc, included a total ban on Russian LNG imports by January 2027, removed remaining exemptions on Rosneft and Gazprom — the same firms targeted in the U.S. sanctions — and widened sanctions on Russia’s shadow fleet and “its enablers.”
However, they failed to agree on diverting billions of euros of Russian money and other assets frozen in European banks and financial institutions to fund Ukraine’s defense.
Member states deferred a decision on $162.6 billion held in a Belgian clearing house until December after the government raised concerns and proposals to co-opt Russian funds to use for a so-called “reparations loan” to Ukraine were also kicked into the long grass.
It was agreed instead to task the European Commission, to come up with “options for financial support based on an assessment of Ukraine’s financing needs,” according to the statement issued after the meeting ended late Thursday.
“Russia’s assets should remain immobilised until Russia ceases its war of aggression against Ukraine and compensates it for the damage caused by its war,” it added.
The U.S. sanctions came a day after Trump pulled out of a planned meeting with Putin, his second since August, saying there was no point because Moscow had made it clear it was not willing to compromise.
However, that was not before Zelensky emerged empty handed from a meeting in the White House at the weekend at which he had hoped to persuade Trump to supply Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles.
