Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived at Downing Street on Wednesday to be hosted by Prime Minister Andy Burnham, as Britain doubled down on its support for Ukraine — accelerating deliveries of British Lightweight Multirole Missiles, the air-defence weapons that have proved effective against Russia’s faster, higher-flying jet-powered drones. London announced a £45 million package of surface-to-air missiles, with £10 million fast-tracked to meet Ukraine’s urgent winter needs, on top of the £1.6 billion already committed to deliver more than 5,000 of the missiles over the next four years. Burnham has also ordered ministers to draw up further sanctions, military aid and fiscal packages for the coming weeks, and Britain will fully implement a maritime services ban on Russian liquefied natural gas exports.
“We are with you for as long as it takes, and we will go further and faster in our support. It is not just the right thing to do, but it’s the necessary thing to do. Russia’s aggression cannot be allowed to succeed on our continent.”
The visit was arranged in the shadow of Washington. Days earlier, President Trump announced a deal with Moscow easing sanctions on Russian diesel exports — a decision taken ahead of US midterm elections overshadowed by rising fuel prices — and then suggested Zelenskyy should be replaced as Ukraine’s leader. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband called it a “very difficult few days” in relations with Washington, and a bipartisan group of twelve US senators warned the diesel deal was “a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our allies.” On Tuesday, fears grew that the US had stopped sharing intelligence with Kyiv after Zelenskyy said his government received no warning of a Russian ballistic missile strike; Trump insisted Washington was still sharing intelligence, but Kyiv was hit again that night, including a strike on one of its main power plants, again with no warning.
This is Europe seeing the disadvantage in the open. With America not onboard, the democratic governments of the alliance are scrambling to carry a weight that used to be shared: London accelerating missiles and sanctions, Chancellor John Healey pressing partners at the IMF meetings in Bangkok to match Britain’s Russian LNG ban, and a European Council summit on Thursday expected to endorse stronger measures against Moscow. Ukraine, for its part, is leaning on the allies still standing with it — Britain, Canada and the European governments now filling the gap Washington has left.
The American position has not changed: Trump is pushing for a negotiated end to the war and has called on both sides to sit down, and London itself is pressing Putin to respect the United States’ call for a full energy ceasefire. But the picture at Downing Street told its own story — the support Ukraine can still count on is increasingly the support Europe provides itself.
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