Zelenskyy at Downing Street: UK pledges £45m in missiles as US warns on intelligence

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives at Downing Street on Wednesday morning, hosted for the first time by Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who replaced Keir Starmer in July. The UK is expected to announce £45 million of surface-to-air missiles and commit to a maritime services ban on Russian liquefied natural gas exports, while calling on international partners to step up sanctions on Russia and press Vladimir Putin to respect the United States' call for an energy ceasefire.

The timing is the story. The visit follows Trump agreeing a deal to buy Russian diesel and demanding Zelenskyy be removed from office. It also follows a warning, which Zelenskyy described in an NPR interview, that the Trump administration could cut off intelligence-sharing with Ukraine unless Ukrainian forces stop long-range drone strikes on oil refineries inside Russia.

London's package is concrete: missiles, a services ban on Russian LNG, and a push for other capitals to follow. The LNG measure is a commitment, not a measure already in force. The invitation itself has been read as a direct riposte to Trump.

What this shows is a visible divergence between London and Washington. The UK is positioning itself as a leading European backer of Ukraine at the moment US support looks conditional. The new missile package and the LNG services ban signal escalation in practice, not just in rhetoric.

The open question is sustainability. Ukraine's long-range strike campaign against Russian oil refineries depends heavily on US intelligence. If Washington follows through on its warning, Kyiv's ability to keep hitting those targets narrows, and the value of what London announced on Wednesday depends partly on whether other partners match it.

Burnham's government has chosen to go further and faster in public. Whether that pressure changes Washington's posture, or simply widens the gap, is not yet known.