Andy Burnham will host Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Downing Street on Wednesday as the UK seeks to further underline its support for the Ukrainian president, in contrast to his difficulties with Donald Trump.
The UK prime minister said his message to Zelenskyy and his country would be: “We are with you for as long as it takes.”
To coincide with the visit, the UK has said it will move more rapidly in providing Ukraine with British-made lightweight multi-role missiles (LMMs) to help protect it from attacks by a new generation of Russian jet-powered drones.
In parallel, Burnham and his ministers will push for a full international maritime services ban on exports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The pair have already met twice since Burnham took office in July, when Zelenskyy visited a naval base in Portsmouth in the same month and when Burnham travelled to Kyiv in August.
Zelenskyy’s latest visit comes as Ukraine faces increased Russian missile and drone attacks, and after Donald Trump made a deal to buy Russian diesel, called for Ukraine to have a new leader, and announced a supposed ceasefire connected to energy infrastructure that the Ukrainian president said “was news to him”.
Trump is an often wayward ally for Ukraine, and Zelenskyy has expressed anger at the diesel deal, saying subsequent Russian attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine amounted to a “thanks” from Vladimir Putin.
UK governments have previously welcomed Zelenskyy after difficult experiences with Trump. He met Keir Starmer at Downing Street the day after Trump and his vice-president, JD Vance, publicly berated the Ukrainian president in the Oval Office 18 months ago.
During that trip Zelenskyy was also hosted by King Charles, who, in a pointedly personal touch, saw the Ukrainian president at Sandringham in Norfolk, which is a royal family home and rarely used for such visits.
Announcing the latest Downing Street meeting, No 10 said part of an ongoing £1.6bn package to deliver more than 5,000 LMMs to Ukraine would be sped up to help combat attacks by jet-powered drones.
These are quicker and higher-flying than the propeller-driven Shahed drones previously used, making them much harder to shoot down, allowing Russia to strike more targets in Ukraine, including in Kyiv.
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The chancellor, John Healey, will separately use meetings at the ongoing International Monetary Fund summit in Bangkok to push other countries to ban Russian LNG.
In a statement before his meeting with Zelenskyy, Burnham said: “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.”
