British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is hosting more than 20 of Ukraine’s allies in London on Friday for a meeting of the self-titled Coalition of the Willing, pressing European partners to deliver additional long-range missiles to Kyiv.
NATO chief Mark Rutte, Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen, and the Netherlands’ Prime Minister Dick Schoof are set to attend in person, joined by President Volodymyr Zelensky, arriving from Brussels where he met EU counterparts on Thursday to secure further financial backing. French President Emmanuel Macron is among those participating virtually.
UK pledges early delivery of air defense missiles
Following Ukraine’s successful use of UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles against a chemical plant in Russia’s southern Bryansk region, Starmer is set to call on partners to accelerate long-range arms support.
According to a statement from Downing Street, the UK will also deliver 100 additional air defense missiles ahead of schedule, part of a £1.6 billion ($2.13 billion) defense deal announced in March.
Zelensky has made long-range missiles a core demand in discussions with allies. Though Trump entertained the idea of selling Tomahawks, Zelensky emerged from last week’s White House talks without a commitment.
Putin’s “depraved strikes” draw sharp condemnation
“The UK’s national security – the foundation of the Government’s Plan for Change – starts in Ukraine,” Starmer 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.”
Two children were among at least seven killed in a Russian missile attack on a kindergarten in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.
“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,” Starmer added.
US sanctions signal tougher stance on Moscow
The leaders will also discuss ways to further cut Russian oil and gas from global markets. After the tentative cancellation of a possible Trump–Putin meeting in Budapest, the signals from Washington have also turned more encouraging: On Wednesday evening, the US announced sanctions against Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, to increase financial pressure on Moscow to enter ceasefire talks.
Coalition to revisit frozen asset plan for Ukraine
The Coalition of the Willing will also revisit the stalled plan to channel frozen Russian assets into financial loans for Ukraine, a proposal that ran into political and legal hurdles in Brussels.
According to the UK government, Starmer will call on Europe’s key allies to “finish the job on Russian sovereign assets to unlock billions of pounds to fund Ukraine’s defenses.”
The London talks follow Thursday’s EU summit in Brussels, where leaders tasked the European Commission with developing a two-year financial plan for Kyiv. The proposed €140 billion ($163 billion) “reparations loan” remains on the table but failed to gain consensus – mainly due to objections from Belgium, which holds most of the €200 billion ($232 billion) in frozen Russian central bank assets.
Despite the deadlock, the EU agreed to support Ukraine’s financial needs for the next two years.