Starmer expected to push European allies to do more for Ukrainepublished at 11:34 BST
11:34 BST
John Sudworth
North America Correspondent
Ukraine senses that the tide is shifting further
in terms of Europe’s readiness to provide the financial and military support it
needs, especially with big doubts still looming over the US position.
Already this week we’ve had news of another
strike on Russian territory using British-made Storm Shadow missiles, with the
targeting of a chemical plant some 200 km beyond Ukraine’s borders.
The London talks will focus on providing more
long-range capabilities, with the British Prime Minister, Sir Kier Starmer,
said to be ready to push European allies to do more.
Ukraine has been seeking German Taurus missiles
which can hit targets up almost twice as far as the Storm Shadow, but so far
Berlin has proved reluctant.
And President Volodymyr Zelensky, disappointed
by Washington’s recent refusal to provide its far more powerful Tomahawk
missiles, has noted that “European countries also have Tomahawks”.
The only other country known to have a
significant stockpile is the UK, although there’s been no public discussion by
the government about the possibility of providing them and, without American
approval, it might seem unlikely.
There are risks in all of this, of course, with
President Trump himself citing possible escalation as one of his reasons for
saying no to giving the weapons system to Ukraine.
At his recent press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin – a man who knows that as head of a nuclear power his
words are carefully parsed by the outside world – said that the consequences of
using such a weapon against Russia would be “serious, if not staggering.”