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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed British government ministers on Friday (July 19), a rare appearance by a foreign leader at a cabinet meeting that new Prime Minister Keir Starmer hopes will underline London’s support for Kiev.
A day after hosting a European leaders’ forum at Blenheim Palace, Starmer continued his efforts to boost Britain’s role in international affairs by inviting Zelenskiy to address senior cabinet ministers. Starmer’s office said the last foreign leader to do so was U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1997.
Zelensky, who received a standing ovation and applause from British cabinet members when he attended the meeting, again called on Western allies to allow long-range strikes against Russia and said Britain should work to persuade its partners to lift restrictions on their use.
“At the moment we lack the main answer to this question, and that is our long-range capabilities,” Zelensky said at the start of the Downing Street meeting. “Please convince other partners to lift these restrictions.”
NATO members have taken different approaches to how Ukraine uses its donated weapons. Some countries have made it clear that Kiev can use the weapons to strike targets inside Russia, while the United States has taken a more stringent approach, allowing its weapons only to be used inside Russia to strike targets that support Russian military operations in Ukraine.
Starmer met Zelenskiy individually for 35 minutes before holding wider bilateral talks with officials, telling him that Britain would speed up aid to Ukraine.
His defence minister said earlier this month that supplies promised by the previous Conservative government would be delivered within 100 days.
“Ukraine is, and always will be, at the heart of this government’s agenda, so it is only fitting that President Zelenskyy is delivering his historic address to my cabinet,” Starmer said in a statement ahead of the meeting.
Britain has been an outspoken supporter of Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, and earlier this month Starmer was quick to reaffirm London’s commitment to Kiev after winning a landslide election, telling Zelensky at NATO that there would be “no change of approach” despite the change in government.
He said on Thursday Britain would implement a new plan to try to stop Russia’s attempts to evade shipping sanctions after it announced sanctions on 11 ships used to transport Russian oil.
He also unveiled the Defence Export Support Treaty, to be signed by defence ministers, which will give Ukraine access to £3.5 billion ($4.5 billion) in export finance to strengthen both countries’ defence industrial base and boost production.
Read more by Euractiv
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