The UK is getting ready to welcome Volodymyr Zelensky on his first official state go to subsequent yr, in a robust show of solidarity with Ukraine because it continues to face Russia’s invasion.
King Charles is anticipated to ask the Ukrainian president, doubtlessly paving the way in which for the landmark go to in 2027.
Mr Zelensky has travelled to Britain 13 instances since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, however he has by no means made an official state go to. He has, nonetheless, held personal conferences with the King and obtained an unprecedented welcome from Downing Road final month.
A few of the conventional ceremonial components could also be scaled again as a result of Mr Zelensky stays a wartime chief. Even so, the go to would signify a big assertion of the shut relationship between Britain and Ukraine as Kyiv continues to withstand Russian aggression.
The proposed go to comes as Ukraine’s relationship with the USA faces renewed uncertainty, following Donald Trump’s obvious rapprochement with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his latest assaults on Mr Zelensky’s management and conduct of the warfare.
Subsequent yr will mark 5 years since Russian forces invaded their European neighbour. On Saturday evening, Russia continued its marketing campaign of bombardment with a collection of lethal strikes throughout Ukraine.
Authorities officers confirmed that plans for the state go to had been into consideration, whereas stressing that no closing preparations had but been made. The proposal was first reported by the Monetary Instances.
The date has not been introduced, however the newspaper reported that the go to is unlikely to be held alongside the G20 summit in Manchester subsequent November, to which Mr Zelensky has additionally been invited.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and King Charles III pictured after inspecting a guard of honour at Windsor Fort, Berkshire, in October 2025
Andy Burnham embraced Volodymyr Zelensky outdoors Downing Road in October in a public show of help for Ukraine’s president
Ukrainian firefighters sort out a blaze at an infrastructure web site after a Russian missile strike within the Kyiv area on Saturday
“You don’t merely connect a state go to to a summit—it might weaken the impression we would like it to have,” a UK official informed the Monetary Instances.
The King is known to help the concept of a extra restrained state go to, reflecting the struggling Ukraine continues to endure. Officers recognise that the grandeur and pageantry often related to such events might seem inappropriate throughout an ongoing warfare.
Earlier this yr, Mr Zelensky invited the King to make a state go to to Ukraine throughout a personal viewers at Windsor Fort.
The Ukrainian president has additionally credited King Charles with serving to persuade Donald Trump to rethink his place on help for Ukraine in the course of the US president’s personal state go to to Britain in September 2025.
A future go to might additionally embody an tackle much like Mr Zelensky’s historic speech in Westminster Corridor in 2023, when he appealed to MPs, friends and parliamentary officers for continued British backing.
Throughout his newest journey to Britain final month, Mr Zelensky met Andy Burnham in Downing Road and was welcomed with an unprecedented guard of honour.
“We’re behind you, and that won’t change,” the Prime Minister informed him after embracing him on the steps of Downing Road.
Mr Zelensky replied: “Our individuals have survived and proceed to take action as a result of we have now robust companions. I’m very proud that we have now one of many strongest companions in our historical past—and that’s your individuals, Andy.”
Mr Zelensky beforehand met King Charles at Buckingham Palace and personally thanked him for his “unwavering help” for Ukraine
Mr Zelensky and his spouse Olena Zelenska had been welcomed by Eire’s President Catherine Connolly at Áras an Uachtaráin throughout a go to to Dublin in December 2025
Mr Zelensky has additionally held talks with former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and former Conservative chief Rishi Sunak. His first go to to Britain after the invasion included the landmark parliamentary tackle.
Though Mr Trump has beforehand backed Ukraine—a place Mr Zelensky mentioned the King helped reinforce—the connection between Washington and Kyiv has been more and more risky in the course of the Trump presidency.
The dispute has intensified in latest weeks, with Mr Trump repeatedly criticising and rebuking the Ukrainian president.
Mr Trump mentioned Ukraine ought to “get a brand new chief” after Mr Zelensky attacked the US president’s shock diesel settlement with Mr Putin forward of the American midterm elections.
Mr Zelensky described Mr Trump’s announcement of a private association with the Russian president as “a present to Putin”.
He additionally condemned Washington’s choice to carry sanctions to facilitate the diesel provide, warning that it might allow the Russian chief to “kill extra individuals” and lengthen the warfare.
Mr Trump, nonetheless, blamed the gasoline disaster on Ukraine and argued that Kyiv mustn’t have focused Russian refineries.
“I recommend they get a brand new chief who could make a deal,” he informed reporters because the confrontation escalated. “I feel it’s time for Ukraine to get a brand new president.”
An worker stands among the many stays of a kindergarten broken in a Russian mass missile assault on Kyiv on Saturday
Warning that Mr Zelensky “higher rattling properly cease”, Mr Trump accused him of making “issues for the world and our farmers and ranchers” by attacking refineries.
“We informed them, ‘Do no matter you need, however don’t hit the diesel gasoline, as a result of it is a large downside, a giant scarcity.’”
“And what does he do? He goes and hits the diesel gasoline.”
Mr Trump then signed an govt order blocking deliberate US sanctions on Russian oil and fuel exports, a call that was welcomed by Moscow.
Nevertheless, only a week in the past, Mr Trump agreed to offer Ukraine with 500 Patriot missiles. Mr Zelensky provided a cautious response, warning that the techniques may not arrive till 2032.
He mentioned Kyiv had requested Washington for a “winter help bundle” supplying 100 Patriot interceptors every month, as Russian assaults on Ukraine’s vitality infrastructure continued “each single day”. He mentioned 500 missiles “could be sufficient to guard our skies”.
“We’re asking for choices that may assure the safety of lives—not the day after tomorrow or someday later, however on the very second the risk exists, when Russia is killing and destroying.”
Russia’s assault has continued as winter attracts nearer, with Kyiv and different elements of Ukraine remaining beneath sustained assault.
Russian strikes have left Kyiv’s three million residents dealing with frequent energy outages, water shortages and a sewage system nearing collapse, because the Kremlin seeks to weaken Ukrainian morale.
A number of waves of Russian ballistic missiles struck Kyiv this morning, damaging key infrastructure, together with the Pivnichnyi Bridge.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko mentioned a residential constructing and a kindergarten had been additionally hit. Six individuals, together with a 14-year-old woman, had been injured.
Mr Zelensky mentioned in a single day strikes had additionally hit substations linking the Rivne and Khmelnytskyi nuclear energy crops with Kyiv and central Ukraine.
Ukraine’s air drive reported that Russia had launched 172 Shahed drones by Saturday morning, together with 137 jet-powered fashions, together with an unspecified variety of ballistic missiles.
Ukrainian forces additionally attacked a number of websites inside Russia, together with the Saratov oil refinery and the Almaz army manufacturing unit.
