Volodymyr Zelensky will hold talks with Keir Starmer in Downing Street today as he drums up support for the fight against Russia.
The Ukrainian president is on a tour of Western capitals as he pushes for more support for the resistance to Vladimir Putin.
New Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte is due to join the premiers for discussions, with Sir Keir underlining the UK’s commitment to Ukraine.
As well as Mr Zelensky’s ‘victory plan’, permission to use British Storm Shadow missiles against Russia will also be on the agenda.
It will be Mr Zelensky’s second trip to No10 since Sir Keir came to power, after he addressed a special meeting of the Cabinet in July.
Yesterday he attended a summit meeting with south-eastern European countries in Croatia, signing an agreement with Croatian prime minister Andrej Plenkovic on co-operation between the two countries’ defence industries.
Sir Keir’s official spokesman said the meeting with Mr Zelensky would involve ‘broad strategic discussions’ on UK and allied support for Ukraine during a ‘crucial period’, rather than specific decisions.
The UK and US have so far stopped short of explicitly giving Kyiv permission to fire Western-supplied missiles at targets within Russia over concerns about further escalating the conflict.
However, Mr Zelensky has likened his position to having to fight with his hands tied.
There had been strong signals last month that a breakthrough on the issue was close, but the negotiations appear to have stalled amid threats of retaliation from Putin.
Downing Street said yesterday that the UK’s position on using Storm Shadow had not changed.
Sir Keir was expected to meet with the leaders of France, Germany and the US at the weekend to discuss Ukraine, but the meeting has been postponed as Joe Biden remains in America to deal with the impact of Hurricane Milton.