Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, on a whirlwind European tour, pressed Britain overnight to join a "fighter jet coalition" in advance of a counteroffensive against Russian forces, instead securing a commitment of attack drones and hundreds more missiles.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak greeted Zelensky with a handshake and hug after his helicopter landed at Chequers, the British leader's official country retreat. It's Zelensky's second trip to the UK since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year.
This is the fifth European country Zelensky has visited in the past three days, after Italy, the Vatican, Germany and France.
He is seeking more aid as Ukraine prepares a long-anticipated spring offensive to retake territory that Russia has seized.
The Kremlin reacted to the new weapons pledge "extremely negatively", but at the same time believed the supplies wouldn't drastically change the course of the war, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
British prime minister Rishi Sunak also committed to supplying hundreds more missiles to Ukraine. (Source: 1News)
"Britain aspires to be at the forefront among countries that continue to pump weapons into Ukraine," Peskov said.
"We repeat once again: It cannot yield any drastic and fundamental influence on the way the special military operation (in Ukraine) is unfolding. But, definitely, it leads to further destruction... It makes this whole story for Ukraine much more complicated."
Zelensky said one of the missions of his European trip was to build a "fighter jet coalition" to provide Ukraine with vital aerial capabilities.
He said more work was needed on that front.
While the UK will not provide the planes, the prime minister said the country would join the coalition and begin a previously announced training program for Ukrainian fighter pilots as soon as this summer.
Sunak's office said it was giving Ukraine hundreds more air defence missiles, as well as "long-range attack drones" with a reach of more than 200 kilometres.
"This is a crucial moment in Ukraine's resistance to a terrible war of aggression they did not choose or provoke," Sunak said.
"We must not let them down."
Sunak will also push allies to deliver more support to Ukraine at a meeting of Group of Seven leaders in Japan later this week, Downing Street said.
As Zelensky visited European capitals, Russia stepped up attacks across Ukraine with drones and missiles.
During his European trip, Zelensky said Ukraine would aim to liberate Russian-occupied areas within Ukraine's internationally recognised borders, and not attack Russian territory.
Among areas Russia still occupies are the Crimean Peninsula and parts of eastern Ukraine with mainly Russian-speaking populations.
The Washington Post cited US intelligence leaks suggesting that Zelensky had considered trying to capture areas in Russia proper for possible use as bargaining chips in peace negotiations. This would put him at odds with Western governments that have insisted that weapons they provide must not be used to attack targets in Russia.
"We have neither the time nor the strength (to attack Russia)," Zelensky said when asked about the report, according to an official interpreter. "And we also don't have weapons to spare with which we could do this."
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