 "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a 'Coalition of the Willing' meeting of international partners on Ukraine at the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) hosted by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (not pictured) in London, Britain, on Friday. Reuters")
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday expressed gratitude to the UK for its continued support and warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin was driving Ukraine toward a “humanitarian disaster.”
According to The Guardian report, speaking at the start of a bilateral meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Zelenskyy said, “Yes, I agree with you and know that Putin doesn’t show that he wants to stop the war.”
He highlighted that Russian attacks on critical infrastructure, including Ukraine’s energy sector, were contributing to the worsening humanitarian crisis.
“We’re thankful to you that we are not alone in this situation — from the very beginning of the war but especially now, it’s very important,” Zelenskyy added.
Zelenskyy urged allies not to “give Russia any reason to think they can finish this war with any outcome that is unfair to us”.
Thanking countries for their support, Zelenskyy told the “coalition of the willing”, “We must all remember that the issues of territorial integrity as well as any alleged trade of lands must not reward the aggressor or reward any future aggression.”
“Only a strong and fair solution to end the war will really work. Please support us in this,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy also called on allies to enhance Ukraine’s long-range weapons capabilities to pressure Russia into negotiations.
Ukraine uses its own weapons to strike energy and military facilities deep inside Russia and has been seeking long-range Tomahawk missiles from the United States to increase pressure on Moscow although it has not yet obtained them.
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More Shorts“As soon as (Russian President Vladimir) Putin felt pressure and the possibility of Tomahawks appearing in Ukraine, he immediately declared his readiness to restart talks,” Reuters quoted Zelenskyy as saying.
Meanwhile, PM Starmer dismissed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “ludicrous demands” for Ukrainian territory as “a non-starter,” emphasising that the “coalition of the willing” and the US were “more united than ever before.”
Speaking at the start of a virtual meeting of the group, Starmer said, “I’m really pleased to say that we’ve got a group now of more than 30 nations who have been unwavering in our support for Ukraine and a just and lasting peace. I would say that today we are more united in that than ever before. United as a group of countries in the coalition of the willing, united with President Trump in our calls to end the bloodshed.”
“Putin continues to meet initiatives for peace by stonewalling and playing for time… instead he’s making ludicrous demands for Ukrainian land which he could not take by force. Now, of course, that is a non-starter,” he added.
Starmer said that European leaders of the so-called ‘coalition of the willing’ also needed to agree to finish the job on using frozen Russian assets to bolster Ukraine’s defences.
“We need to agree to finish the job on Russia’s sovereign assets and unlock billions to help finance Ukraine’s defence,” Starmer told the European leaders at the meeting in London.
“The UK is ready to move in tandem with the EU to drive this forward as fast as possible.”
With inputs from agencies