Sir Keir Starmer’s visit to the presidential palace in Kyiv was met with a message from Russia when a drone was blasted out of the sky above.

The prime minister was meeting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss the next steps for Ukraine, on Sir Keir’s first visit to Kyiv since his election victory last July.

The sound of anti-aircraft gunfire was audible in the palace courtyard as air sirens warned of possible drone attacks. While air sirens blaring are a daily occurrence in Ukraine, it’s rare for drones to be shot out of the sky over the presidential palace.

One drone was shot down, although eyewitnesses think there were at least two drones operating and suspect they were probably surveillance drones, as the one taken out didn’t explode on impact.

President Zelenskyy gave his Russian enemies short shrift, saying when the drone was detected: “We will say hello to them too.”

Politics latest: UK to give Ukraine new air defence system

An audacious move by Moscow, Sir Keir said the drone threat was “a reminder of what Ukraine is facing every day” and that the war was brought about by “Russian aggression”.

The PM reiterated his support for Ukraine’s eventual accession to NATO, and noted the discussion at the NATO summit in Washington last year – when its allies put Ukraine on an “irreversible path” to NATO membership.

However, President Zelenskyy, perhaps with an eye on the incoming Trump administration, was more forthright in his response to the question of Western allies supporting Ukraine’s membership. He told reporters the US, Slovakia, Germany and Hungary “cannot see us in NATO”.

President Trump has recently acknowledged Moscow’s longstanding opposition to Ukraine’s ambition to join NATO, given it would mean, as the president-elect said: “Russia has somebody right on their doorstep, and I can understand their feeling about that.”

‘Nothing is off the table’

This was a news conference big on symbolism as Sir Keir vowed to stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes and put Kyiv in the strongest possible position for negotiations with Russia.

He pledged to work with Ukraine in the months ahead to ensure security guarantees for the country in any ceasefire deal, while also opening the door to possible troop deployments in training or a peacekeeping capacity, saying “nothing is off the table”.

“We must be totally clear – a just and lasting peace comes through strength,” said Sir Keir.

The PM also pledged to send 1,540 artillery barrels to Ukraine as President Zelenskyy called for more weapons, blaming Russia’s advance in the eastern part of Ukraine on the slow supply of weapons.

A new mobile defence system and a ramping up in the training of troops were also promised by Sir Keir.

President Zelenskyy also acknowledged in the news conference that much is uncertain around this conflict and what security guarantees Ukraine might get from its allies ahead of conversations with Trump.

Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed Hamas has backtracked on an earlier understanding of the ceasefire agreement, which is awaiting the approval of the Israeli government.

The Israeli prime minister said the group was objecting to part of the agreement which would give Israel the ability to veto the release of certain Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas was trying to dictate which Palestinian prisoners would be released, he said.

Follow live: Gaza ceasefire deal

“Among other things – contrary to a specific clause that grants Israel the veto power over the release of mass murderers who are symbols of terrorism, Hamas is demanding to dictate the identities of these terrorists,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement.

It said Mr Netanyahu has told Israeli negotiators to stand firm on the earlier agreement. Hamas is yet to respond.

Any deal will need to be approved by Mr Netanyahu’s security cabinet and then his government.

Since the agreement has been announced at least 32 people have been killed in heavy Israeli bombardment in Gaza, medics reported.

Strikes continued into Thursday morning, flattening houses in Rafah in southern Gaza, Nuseirat in central Gaza and in northern Gaza, local residents said.

The ceasefire deal does not come into force until Sunday.

The announcement comes after weeks of painstaking negotiations in Doha against the backdrop of a war in Gaza that has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead and many more injured and displaced from their homes.

Much of the densely-populated territory has been razed to the ground as Israel launched a ground offensive following the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023 which left 1,200 people dead and around 250 people taken hostage.

Read more:
A timeline of events in more than a year of war
Faces of 94 hostages who still haven’t returned home
What does the agreement say?
The war in numbers

What’s in the deal?

The deal outlines a six-week initial ceasefire phase that includes a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from central Gaza and the return of Palestinians to north Gaza, the Reuters news agency reported, citing an official briefed on the agreement.

Hamas will release 33 hostages, including all women, children and men over the age of 50, the agency said.

In return for the release of the hostages, Israel will free between 990 and 1,650 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

Israel will release 30 Palestinian detainees for every civilian hostage and 50 Palestinian detainees for every female Israeli soldier that Hamas releases.

There will also be a surge of humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza as part of the agreement, which requires 600 aid trucks to be allowed into Gaza each day.

Negotiations over a second phase of the agreement are to begin on the 16th day of phase one and are expected to include the release of all remaining hostages, including male Israeli soldiers, a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces.

A third phase is expected to include the return of the bodies of the dead hostages and the beginning of Gaza’s reconstruction, supervised by Egypt, Qatar and the UN.

Analysis: This deal wouldn’t have happened without Trump

Shortly after the ceasefire deal was announced, Hamas’ acting Gaza chief Khalil al-Hayya said in a televised address that Israel failed to achieve its goals in the Palestinian territory.

He also vowed Hamas will neither forgive nor forget Israel’s actions in Gaza.

President Joe Biden has warned of a “dangerous concentration of power” among a few wealthy people in the United States in his farewell address to the nation.

Without naming president-elect Donald Trump, Mr Biden said: “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that really threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedom and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.”

During his speech from the Oval Office in the White House, the president said there was “a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a few ultra-wealthy people” and warned of “dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked”.

Although he did not give names, some of the world’s richest individuals and tech titans have flocked to Mr Trump’s side, particularly since his election win in November.

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, spent more than $100m helping Mr Trump get elected, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos have also donated to Mr Trump’s inauguration.

While Mr Biden was giving his speech, Mr Trump, Mr Musk and vice president-elect JD Vance dined with Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella at Mar-a-Lago, according to news outlet Semafor.

During his address Mr Biden also warned of a “tech-industrial complex” he said was bringing an “avalanche of misinformation and disinformation, enabling the abuse of power”, following social media company Meta scrapping its fact-checking programme in the US and loosening its hate speech guidelines.

The president said the US Constitution should be amended to say no president should have immunity for crimes committed in office, after the Supreme Court granted Mr Trump protection last year from criminal liability over his role in trying to undermine his loss to Mr Biden in 2020.

Analysis: Trump doing his best to undermine Biden as outgoing president tries to polish his legacy

Biden takes credit for Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal

Mr Biden also took credit for the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas that will see the release of Israeli hostages for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

“This plan was developed and negotiated by my team, and it will be largely implemented by the incoming administration,” he said.

“That’s why I told my team to keep the incoming administration fully informed, because that’s how it should be – working together as Americans.”

He made the remarks after Mr Trump claimed credit for the breakthrough in negotiations

During his farewell speech Mr Biden said: “It will take time to feel the impact of all we’ve done together, but the seeds are planted and they’ll grow and they’ll bloom for decades to come.”

Mr Biden beat Mr Trump to become president in 2020, but decided to run for re-election in 2024 at the unprecedented age of 80.

He was later forced out of the race following a disastrous debate with Mr Trump and his replacement, Vice President Kamala Harris, went on to lose every battleground state to Mr Trump.