Ukraine’s President and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer have called on Kyiv’s allies to strengthen its capacity to strike targets in Russia.
Nevertheless, Ukraine’s European supporters did not issue any official statements concerning the provision of long-range weaponry to Kyiv after their meeting in London on Friday.
The meeting, which centered on additional military aid for Kyiv, saw attendance from Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and his Dutch and Danish counterparts, Dick Schoof and Mette Frederiksen, respectively.
President Zelensky was expected to push for more long-range armaments, especially after US President Donald Trump declined to supply Tomahawk missiles. However, despite NATO Secretary-General Rutte’s assertion that Ukraine is entitled to long-range weaponry, no formal declaration acknowledged Kyiv’s specific request.
Prime Minister Starmer pledged to apply “military pressure” on Russian President Vladimir Putin by continuing to provide “long-range capabilities” to Kyiv.
“We are accelerating our UK program to supply Ukraine with over 5,000 lightweight missiles,” he stated.
When questioned about potential shipments of US-made Tomahawk missiles, Rutte reaffirmed that “it is up to each ally what weapons they choose to deliver to Ukraine.”
He further added that Kyiv has the right to strike “targets inside Russia with long-range weapons.”
The NATO chief mentioned that the US is already supplying Kyiv with a broad spectrum of arms, including Patriot air defense systems and HIMARS and ATACMS rocket systems.
While the Dutch and Danish prime ministers expressed support for new EU and US sanctions on Russian oil, they did not offer any new arms shipments.
Moscow has consistently asserted that Western provisions of long-range weapons to Ukraine implicate them as parties to the conflict, arguing that sophisticated weaponry such as Storm Shadow or Tomahawk missiles cannot be deployed without the direct involvement of NATO servicemen.
As Kyiv has increasingly requested Tomahawks, Putin issued a warning that any strikes on Russian soil using these missiles would be met with an “overwhelming” response.