By Andrew MacAskill and Alistair Smout
LONDON — President Volodymyr Zelenskiy held talks with NATO chief Mark Rutte and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday where they discussed his proposed “victory plan” and whether Ukraine could use Western missiles against targets in Russia.
Starmer and Zelenskiy have both said the war with Russia is at a critical point, and the Ukrainian leader is keen for the West to give further support to try to change the balance on the battlefield.
Zelenskiy has pushed for the United States and Britain to let it use long-range missiles donated by its allies inside Russian territory, something Rutte said had come up at the meeting.
“We discussed it today, but in the end, it is up to the individual allies,” Rutte told reporters in Downing Street after the talks.
Starmer’s spokesperson said that there was an “ongoing discussion between the UK, Ukraine and international partners about how we help Ukraine heading into the winter.”
“We obviously want to put Ukraine in the strongest position. But no war has ever been won by a single weapon. And on Storm Shadow (missiles) specifically, there has been no change to the UK government’s position on the use of long range missiles,” the spokesperson said.
Russia has previously said it would respond if Western countries allowed Ukraine to strike Russia with their missiles. President Vladimir Putin said last month that such a decision would mean NATO countries directly fighting with Russia and that “the very essence of this conflict will be changed.”
VICTORY PLAN
The meeting on Thursday was a boost for Ukraine after a summit of its main backers was cancelled at a difficult moment in its fight against Russia.
The Ukrainian president had been due to present his plan for the war to allies in Germany this week, but the summit was postponed after U.S. President Joe Biden cancelled his visit to focus on Hurricane Milton.
Zelenskiy said after the London meeting that he had outlined how to create “the right conditions for a just end to the war” without going into detail.
“I thank the United Kingdom for its continued defense support of our country, including with long-range weapons,” he said on X.
The Ukrainian leader is travelling in Europe to meet allies this week. He was in Croatia on Wednesday and will meet Pope Francis on Friday.
Ukraine’s arms donors had been set to convene at the Ramstein Air Base for their highest-level meeting on the sidelines of a Biden state visit to Germany.
But the White House said Biden needed to oversee preparations for Hurricane Milton and relief efforts after another hurricane last month killed more than 200 people. – Reuters
