Zelensky meets European leaders for talks on military aid for Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was in Britain on Friday for talks with two dozen European leaders who have pledged military help to protect his country from future Russian aggression if a ceasefire stops the more than three-year war.

Before heading to London’s Downing Street to meet Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the host of the London talks, the president met King Charles.

The Ukrainian national anthem played at the almost 1,000-year-old Windsor Castle west of London, where Zelensky was taken inside for an audience with the monarch, their third known meeting this year.

The multi-nation London talks were due to discuss ways of helping protect Ukraine’s power grid from Russia’s almost daily drone and missile attacks as winter approaches, enhancing Ukrainian air defences, and supplying Kyiv with longer-range missiles that can strike deep inside Russia.

The talks aim to step up pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin, adding momentum to measures in recent days that have included a new round of sanctions from the United States and European countries that take aim at Russia’s vital oil and gas export earnings.

Putin has so far resisted efforts to push him into negotiating a peace settlement with Zelensky and has argued that the motives for Russia’s all-out invasion of its smaller neighbour are legitimate.

Russia has also been adept at finding loopholes in Western sanctions. That unbudging stance has exasperated Western leaders.