President Volodymyr Zelenskiy delivered a historic address before Britain's cabinet on July 19, calling for its help in halting Moscow's deadly missile strikes by allowing Ukrainian forces to launch attacks deeper inside Russian territory.
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Zelenskiy, the first foreign leader to address the cabinet since former U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1997, said Britain had the power to convince its NATO partners, some of whom have been reluctant to allow Kyiv to use Western-provided long-range weapons to strike targets hundreds of kilometers deep inside Russia, to reverse their stance and remove the limitations.
“I ask you to show your leadership," Zelenskiy told the British cabinet to a standing ovation at the start of the meeting at No. 10 Downing Street.
"Right now we are missing the main answer to this question and that is our long-range capability...Please convince the other partners to remove the limits. If the restrictions on using Western weapons against Russian military are lifted, we can strike further than just near the border," he said, adding that once we can strike further...including Russian military airfields, we will not only protect ourselves from any Russian offensives but also secure our frontline positions and cities from Russian bombs."
Britain has been one of Ukraine's staunchest supporters since the start of Russia's unprovoked invasion in February 2022, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who led his Labour Party to a landslide election victory earlier this month, was quick to reaffirm Britain's commitment to Kyiv despite the change of government.
Zelenskiy and Starmer met separately ahead of the cabinet meeting, and the Ukrainian leader thanked Britain for its sustained support.
“Ukraine is, and always will be, at the heart of this government’s agenda, and so it is only fitting that President Zelenskiy will make a historic address to my Cabinet,” Starmer said in a statement before the meeting.
“Russia’s incremental gains on the battlefield are nothing compared with the collective international support for Ukraine, or the strength of ties between our people.”
Russian forces over the past several months have made small advances in the east of Ukraine against exhausted Ukrainian forces who have lacked sufficient manpower and ammunition. At the same time, Moscow has also frequently targeted critical Ukrainian energy infrastructure and caused deaths and damage in cities.
Separately, Zelenskiy said on July 19 that Poland had made a decision that would speed up the delivery of F-16 warplanes to Ukraine.
"Today, we have a positive decision from the Polish government on a specific issue, which will allow Ukraine to receive F-16 jets sooner. I am grateful to Prime Minister Tusk for efficiently following up on our previous agreements. I am grateful to Poland for its strong support for Ukraine," Zelenskiy wrote on X, without giving details.
Earlier on July 19, Russian shelling from across the Dnieper River killed an elderly woman in the settlement of Bilozerka, in Ukraine's Kherson region, regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram.
A Russian strike on the town of Chuhuyiv in the northeastern Kharkiv region wounded at least seven people, regional head Oleh Synyehubov reported, while in the Sumy region close to the border with Russia, at least one civilian was wounded by Russian shelling, according to regional officials.
Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry said that its air defense systems had downed 19 Ukrainian drones over the Kursk and Belgorod regions, as well as occupied Crimea.