Zelenskyy presses allies in London
Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in London to meet Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NATO’s Mark Rutte as he pushed for renewed Western support and warned the Middle East war could divert attention from Ukraine. Kyiv reports incremental advances on the battlefield but commanders say gains are being made inside “kill zone” areas and Zelenskyy says a growing shortage of air‑defense missiles reflects Western aid being redirected to the Middle East. (apnews.com) (independent.co.uk) (bbc.com)
Downing Street published a new UK‑Ukraine defence declaration that explicitly targets mass production and exportable supply chains for interceptor and attack drones, and pledges closer defence‑industrial cooperation with third countries. (gov.uk) As part of the package the UK committed £500,000 to establish an AI Centre of Excellence inside Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence to speed battlefield AI integration and data‑driven procurement. (gov.uk) President Zelensky said Kyiv has already deployed 201 anti‑drone specialists to Gulf states, with a further 34 personnel held ready, and named UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait as destinations for Ukrainian teams. (kyivindependent.com) In London Zelensky also told MPs Kyiv can scale interceptor production dramatically — citing capacity of roughly 2,000 interceptor drones per day and saying Ukraine could supply up to half that output to partners. (english.news.cn) Zelensky warned a prolonged Iran war has already strained the missile pool for allied Patriot and other interceptors, noting more Patriot launches in a recent three‑day Gulf exchange than had been fired in Ukraine since 2022. (aljazeera.com) Ukrainian commanders’ recent counterattacks have produced measurable territorial returns — an AFP/ISW analysis put one five‑day recovery at about 201 sq km — a statistic Kyiv used in London to argue for accelerated weapons and munitions supply. (france24.com) NATO Secretary‑General Mark Rutte welcomed the enhanced industrial cooperation and said the agreement strengthens Euro‑Atlantic preparedness by linking Ukrainian battlefield data and UK manufacturing capacity. (nato.int)
