The British Prime Minister Will Try To Persuade Trump To Provide Ukraine With Patriot Missiles
- 25.08.2026, 7:32
The politician left Kyiv feeling “truly very optimistic.”
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced that he will travel to the U.S. in September alongside other European leaders to try to strengthen support for Ukraine.
He made these remarks in an interview with Bloomberg.
According to the official, they will travel to the U.S. to convince U.S. President Donald Trump to grant Ukraine access to part of its stockpile of Patriot interceptor missiles ahead of winter.
“I’m looking forward to the trip to New York in September. I haven’t finalized all the details yet, but I’ll most likely be going, especially after today’s discussion. As I leave today, I know exactly what I need to do in the coming weeks,” Bernham said.
His comments came during his first international visit since taking office as prime minister. Specifically, on August 24, he arrived in Ukraine and chaired a meeting of the “coalition of the willing,” as well as held a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
According to the official, he left feeling “truly optimistic” that Ukraine’s current difficulties in defending against Russian ballistic missiles—caused by low stockpiles of air defense missiles—are “solvable.”
He added that European leaders are considering the possibility of holding another meeting of the “coalition of the willing” on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly with the aim of securing deliveries of American interceptors and other missile defense systems from other countries.
“By all accounts, this is the most likely course of events. It hasn’t been confirmed yet, but it seems that most people are leaning toward this,” Bernham said.
He emphasized that, although the United Kingdom has not provided the Patriot missiles Ukraine needs, other European countries must step up their efforts.
“There are other players who could help, and over whom we have influence. This will likely be a decision requiring multiple levels of engagement and negotiations,” he concluded.