Andy Burnham will welcome Volodymyr Zelensky to Downing Street on Wednesday, using the Ukrainian president's second visit to Britain since July to promise faster deliveries of air defence missiles and extra work on sanctions against Moscow.
The Guardian reported that part of an existing 1.6 billion pound programme to supply Ukraine with more than 5,000 British-made Lightweight Multirole Missiles, or LMMs, would be accelerated under the plan. The weapons are meant to intercept Russian jet-powered drones, which fly higher and faster than the propeller-driven Shahed models and are harder to bring down, BBC News reported.
In a statement issued before the meeting, Burnham said British backing for Kyiv kept people in the UK safer and gave Ukrainian troops the equipment to push back Russia. "My message to the Ukrainian people could not be clearer: we are with you for as long as it takes, and we will go further and faster in our support," he added.
Chancellor John Healey will use meetings at the International Monetary Fund summit in Bangkok to press other governments for a full maritime services ban on Russian liquefied natural gas exports, Downing Street said. The Independent reported that the push on LNG is being coordinated with the Downing Street talks.
The visit follows a bruising fortnight for Kyiv's relations with Washington. Donald Trump's administration agreed a deal to buy Russian diesel, a move that drew anger in Kyiv. The US president then called for Ukraine to have new leadership after Zelensky described the diesel arrangement as a "gift" to Vladimir Putin.
Britain's foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, described the past few days as "very difficult" for UK-US relations, according to BBC News.
Burnham and Zelensky have met twice since the prime minister took office. Zelensky visited a naval base in Portsmouth in late July, days after Burnham entered Downing Street, and Burnham travelled to Kyiv in August.
The meeting also follows comments by Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, who said on Monday that Ukraine did not deserve the "respite" a ceasefire would bring, BBC News reported. Trump said on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed an immediate energy ceasefire. Zelensky said hours later that Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities had continued.