LONDON (AP) 鈥� The leaders of the U.K., Ukraine, France and Germany discussed the 鈥渦rgent need鈥� to ramp up production of weapons to combat Russia’s powerful hypersonic in a meeting in London on Sunday.
British Prime Minister hosted Ukrainian leader , French President and German Chancellor at 10 Downing Street.
In a statement released by Starmer’s office following their evening meeting, the leaders condemned Russia鈥檚 鈥渓arge-scale missile and drone attacks 鈥� including the repeated use of the Oreshnik missiles 鈥� on Ukrainian cities with a tragic toll on civilians.” They also condemned Russia’s 鈥渋rresponsible and dangerous Russian drone incursions鈥� into NATO territory, including
Russia has stepped up its aerial campaign against Ukraine recently, most notably with the launch of the Oreshnik missiles.
鈥淭he leaders underlined the urgent need to scale up the production of interceptors and co-develop anti-ballistic missile and deep strike capabilities,” the leaders said.
No details, financial or otherwise, on how this would be done were provided.
Ukraine鈥檚 shortage of air defense systems, in part because of the depletion of U.S. stocks during the , has left civilians especially vulnerable to ballistic missiles, even as Kyiv鈥檚 defenses stop most of Moscow鈥檚 drones and its forces have made advances elsewhere on the battlefield.
The worry for Ukrainians is that the Iran war, which has been in abeyance for weeks, may now reignite after in the first such bombardment since a fragile ceasefire took effect in early April, complicating mediation efforts for a deal to end the war.
Following their meeting in London, the European leaders called on Russian President to agree 鈥渁n immediate and complete ceasefire鈥� with the current line of contact as a starting point for any negotiations.
The U.K., France and Germany, the so-called E3 group of European nations, have been prominent backers of Ukraine following . The U.K. and France lead the 鈥渃oalition of the willing鈥� initiative to provide security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a peace process.
The meeting comes in the wake of a Russian drone strike that killed three people waiting at a bus stop in southeastern Ukraine. A separate drone strike damaged a storage center for spent nuclear fuel in the Kyiv region, just 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Ukraine鈥檚 General Staff said. The attack sparked a fire that was extinguished within an hour. Radiation remains within safe levels, officials said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said the incident was 鈥渄eeply concerning鈥� due to the large amounts of nuclear material held at the facility. He said in a statement that the agency would visit the site of the attack soon.
The Russian attacks follow a on Saturday that targeted Saint Petersburg, Russia鈥檚 second-largest city, underscoring Kyiv鈥檚 growing ability to hit deep inside Russia.
With the front line barely moving as swarms of drones hinder advances, both sides have sought an edge by launching long-range strikes.
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Associated Press writer Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, contributed to this report.
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