LONDON, Oct 24, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will urge European leaders to boost long-range missile supplies to Kyiv at a London summit on Friday which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to attend.

Starmer is expected to call on allies to "step up the gifting of long-range capabilities to ensure Ukraine can build on its success of this week," his office said in a statement ahead of the meeting of the so-called "coalition of the willing".

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Netherlands' Dick Schoof are also expected to attend the summit in London, with other leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron joining virtually.

It comes a day after Zelensky urged European counterparts to agree to a new loan using Russian frozen assets at a Brussels summit on Wednesday.

Kyiv's western allies this week ratcheted up the pressure on Russia as the war in Ukraine enters its fourth winter, with the United States announcing biting sanctions against Russian oil.

The European Union also announced a complete ban on Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports by the end of 2026 in a new sanctions package on Thursday.

Alongside increasing oil and gas sanctions, Starmer will call on European leaders to "finish the job on Russian sovereign assets to unlock billions of pounds to fund Ukraine's defences," according to the Downing Street statement.

His call for boosting defence supplies comes as Zelensky failed to secure long-range Tomahawks during a recent visit to Washington, despite multiple pleas for the missiles he says Ukraine needs to hit targets deep within Russian territory.

The UK and France already supply Ukraine with Storm Shadow and Scalp long-range missiles, and Ukraine also produces its own Flamingo and Neptune strike drones.

Kyiv is particularly keen to get the German equivalent Taurus missiles, a move which Berlin has long resisted over fears that it would cause tensions with Russia to further escalate.

Starmer will also announce the "acceleration" of a programme to manufacture air defence missiles, which aims to supply Ukraine with more than 5,000 such weapons.

Around 140 "lightweight-multirole missiles" will be delivered to Ukraine this winter, according to the statement.