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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy met the leaders of Britain and Nato at the start of a whistle-stop tour of Europe to rally support for his “victory plan”, as Russia launched more attacks on eastern Ukraine and another deadly missile strike on the southern port of Odesa.
Mr Zelenskiy met British prime minister Keir Starmer and new Nato secretary general Mark Rutte in London on Thursday, before flying to France for talks with its president Emmanuel Macron. He was then expected in Italy for meetings with prime minister Giorgia Meloni and Pope Francis, and in Germany for talks on Friday with chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Ukraine wants allies to give it more weapons, allow it to strike deeper into Russian territory with western-supplied missiles, and to open its path to Nato membership as part of a co-ordinated effort to force Russia to end its 2½-year full-scale invasion.
“The key topics of our discussions were Euro-Atlantic integration and the military reinforcement of Ukraine. These are the steps that will create the best conditions for restoring a just peace,” Mr Zelenskiy said of his talks in London. “Ukraine can negotiate only from a strong position.”
Ukraine plans to call a second international peace summit this year and wants Russia to attend. Moscow was not invited to the first summit, in Switzerland in June, and rejects any talks based on Mr Zelenskiy’s so-called peace formula, which demands that Russia end its occupation, pay reparations and face war crimes prosecutions.
The Kremlin says Ukraine must accept permanent Russian annexation of five of its regions and give up its Nato membership hopes to have any chance of peace.
Mr Starmer said it was important to demonstrate “our continued commitment” to Kyiv, and described the talks as a chance to “go through the plan, to talk in more detail”.
A spokesman for his government said there was an “ongoing discussion between the UK, Ukraine and international partners about how we help Ukraine heading into the winter,” but said there was “no change to the UK government’s position on the use of long-range missiles”.
Britain is reportedly willing to allow Ukraine to hit targets deeper inside Russia with Storm Shadow cruise missiles it has delivered to Kyiv, but wants US backing for the move. The White House has warned against further “escalation” in Europe’s biggest war since 1945, and Russian president Vladimir Putin says Nato states risk being in direct conflict with his country.
“We discussed it today, but in the end it is up to the individual allies,” Mr Rutte said.
Ukraine has struck several large Russian oil facilities, arms depots and military airfields using long-range domestically produced drones in recent weeks, and said on Thursday that it had hit an airbase used for refuelling bombers in the southern Russian region of Adygeya, hundreds of kilometres from the Ukrainian border.
Photos posted on social media showed pillars of black smoke above the site, and Russian officials said a nearby village was evacuated. Unnamed sources in Kyiv’s security services claimed that 57 military planes and helicopters were at the base when it was hit. Russia did not comment on damage caused by the drone attack.
Eight Ukrainian workers were killed in Odesa port on Wednesday night in the third Russian missile attack in four days on civilian cargo ships. EU spokesman Peter Stano called it “Putin’s answer to all those who say that peace with Putin is possible”.
Heavy fighting continued in the small city of Torestk in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, where Russia has accelerated its grinding advance in recent months.
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