Zelenskyy meets key allies in London aiming to build on strikes on Russia

Keir Starmer hosts Ukrainian, French and German leaders in Downing Street amid optimism in Kyiv over state of war

Volodymyr Zelenskyy met his staunchest allies at Downing Street on Sunday night, hours after a Russian drone strike damaged a storage centre for spent nuclear fuel nine miles from the Chornobyl nuclear power plant.

Keir Starmer welcomed Zelenskyy, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz for a meeting to discuss ongoing support for Ukraine as the country seeks to capitalise on a series of strikes on key Russian positions.

The leaders of the so-called E3 group of nations – the UK, France and Germany – gathered after a week of heightened hostilities and after Vladimir Putin rejected Zelenskyy’s proposal of face-to-face talks on Moscow’s war. The UK and France are leading a “coalition of the willing” initiative to provide security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a peace process.

Before the meeting, Zelenskyy vowed that Ukraine would not “silently die”. He told Sky News: “We will respond. We will be stronger and stronger each day.”

He said talks would focus on support for Ukraine and cooperation on air defence “for the security of all of Europe”.

Zelenskyy, who will meet King Charles on Monday, thanked the UK and Ukraine’s other allies, who he said in a social media post were “helping us strengthen the protection of life and increase pressure on Russia for its aggression”.

The meeting followed a series of devastating Ukrainian strikes on targets inside Russia, including Vladimir Putin’s home city of St Petersburg. Long-range Ukrainian drones hit an oil terminal and a nearby naval port last week, sending black smoke billowing into the sky. The attacks began hours before the start of the city’s international economic forum.