President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit Number 10 on Friday as the UK government promises to lead a “crackdown” on Russian oil vessels.
The Ukrainian leader, who has been in the country for the European Political Community (EPC) summit, will meet the whole of the new cabinet in Downing Street to brief them on the ongoing war and “the need to ramp up Europe’s defence industrial base to outpace the Russian threat”.
It will be the first time Sir Keir Starmer has hosted a foreign leader since becoming prime minister, as well as the first time a president has addressed the cabinet in person since former US president Bill Clinton in 1997.
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The meeting comes after 44 European countries and the European Union agreed at the EPC summit to work together to disrupt Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet”.
It is a group of around 6,000 vessels that carry 1.7 million barrels of oil a day, which the government says the country uses to “generate significant funds to fuel its war machine”, with some thought to act as listening stations or to transport weapons.
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The UK and Ukrainian defence ministers are also expected to sign a new defence export support treaty, worth £3.5bn and agreed by the two leaders, to increase military hardware and weapons production for the war effort.
President Zelenskyy also met representatives of the UK defence industry and UK Defence Secretary John Healey on Wednesday to discuss how to deepen cooperation and boost defence industrial production.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Sir Keir said: “Ukraine is, and always will be, at the heart of this government’s agenda and so it is only fitting that President Zelenskyy will make a historic address to my cabinet.
“Russia’s incremental gains on the battlefield are nothing compared with the collective international support for Ukraine, or the strength of ties between our people.
“And alongside our European partners, we have sent a clear message to those enabling Putin’s attempts to evade sanctions – we will not allow Russia’s shadow fleet, and the dirty money it generates, to flow freely through European waters and put our security at risk.”
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The event comes amid growing uncertainty around the future of funding for Ukraine due to the US presidential elections.
Donald Trump, who is hoping to return to the White House after the US election in November, this week announced his running mate as Ohio senator JD Vance – an arch critic of US aid to Ukraine and of American taxpayers bankrolling European security.
Sir Keir has doubled down on his backing of President Zelenskyy, however, announcing a £3bn package of funding at the recent NATO summit in Washington.
