Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine will not “silently die” and could maintain its recent surge of attacks deep into Russia if the war continues, as he arrived in London for talks in Downing Street.
Sir Keir Starmer is hosting discussions between the Ukrainian president and the leaders of France and Germany – some of Kyiv’s staunchest allies – which are expected to cover cooperation on air defence and wider support.
The meeting on Sunday evening comes on the day a Russian drone strike damaged a storage centre for spent nuclear fuel nine miles from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
The attack sparked a fire that was extinguished within an hour and radiation remains within safe levels, officials said.
In a post on social media, Mr Zelensky said the focus of Sunday’s meeting would be “our defence in the war, greater cooperation for the security of all of Europe in the area of air defence” and discussion of diplomatic prospects.
“Europe must be part of the negotiations and must be strong,” he said.
It comes after a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack targeted St Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, on Saturday, underscoring Kyiv’s growing ability to hit deep inside Russia.
“We will not just silently die. We will respond,” Mr Zelensky told Sky News on Sunday.
“We will be stronger and stronger each day.”
Writing on X, the Ukrainian leader hit out at the “extremely vile” strike near Chernobyl, saying it was “an increase in Russia’s brazenness”.
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said the incident was “deeply concerning” due to the large amounts of nuclear material held at the facility.
On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected a proposal by Mr Zelensky for face-to-face talks on the four-year-old war, claiming he saw “no point” in a meeting.
The so-called E3 group of nations meeting the Ukrainian leader are some of Kyiv’s closest allies, with the UK and France leading the “coalition of the willing” initiative to provide security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a peace process.
Mr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in Downing Street on Sunday evening.
