Ukraine's Zelenskiy attends UK cabinet, renews calls on long-range missiles
World
Ukraine's Zelenskiy attends UK cabinet, renews calls on long-range missiles
LONDON (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addressed British government ministers on Friday, a rare appearance by a foreign leader at a cabinet meeting that new Prime Minister Keir Starmer hopes will underline London's support for Kyiv.
A day after hosting a forum of European leaders at Blenheim Palace, Starmer pressed on with his bid to raise Britain's role in international affairs by inviting Zelenskiy to address his cabinet of top ministers. The last foreign leader to do so was U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1997, Starmer's office said.
Welcomed to the meeting by a standing ovation and applause from British ministers, Zelenskiy renewed his call for Western allies to allow long-range strikes on Russia, saying Britain should try to convince its partners to remove the limits on their use.
"Right now we are missing the main answer to this question and that is our long-range capability," Zelenskiy said at the beginning of the meeting in Downing Street. "Please convince the other partners to remove the limits."
NATO members have taken different approaches to how Ukraine can use weapons they donate. Some have made clear Kyiv can use them to strike targets inside Russia while the United States has taken a narrower approach, allowing its weapons to be used only just inside Russia's border against targets supporting Russian military operations in Ukraine.
Starmer, who met Zelenskiy separately for 35 minutes before a wider bilateral with officials, told Zelenskiy that Britain would speed up delivery of aid to Ukraine.
