Zelenskyy cheered as he says ‘freedom will win’ during historic address to UK parliament
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has received a standing ovation and cheers from parliament as he called on the UK and the West to provide Ukraine with fighter jets during a surprise visit to London.
The Ukrainian president is the first foreign leader to address parliamentarians in Westminster Hall, the oldest part of parliament, since former Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is now in jail, in 2012.
Wearing his usual outfit of military fatigues, Mr Zelenskyy entered the famous hall, where the Queen’s coffin lay in state, to a standing ovation and cheers from MPs and peers.
Zelenskyy addresses MPs – live politics latest
He said: “We will always come out on top of evil.
“We know freedom will win. We know Russia will lose.”
He thanked “all the people of England and Scotland, of Wales and Northern Ireland” for their support, on behalf of “our fighters who are now in the trenches under enemy artillery fire”.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak received a handful of mentions from his Ukrainian counterpart, especially as he thanked the PM for providing more equipment to his country.
After saying he will “have the honour” to meet King Charles later, Mr Zelenskyy presented the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lyndsay Hoyle, with a signed helmet from “one of our most successful” Ukrainian Air Force pilots.
“He’s one of our kings,” he said.
“And the writing on the helmet reads: ‘We have freedom. Give us wings to protect it’.”
He added: “In Britain, the King is an air force pilot and in Ukraine today, every air force pilot is a king.”
Sir Lindsay Hoyle held up the pilot’s helmet given to him by Mr Zelenskyy
Appeal for fighter jets
Mr Zelenskyy said he hoped the symbol of the helmet will help for their “next coalition of planes”.
He added: “I appeal to you, and the word is simple, and the most important words: Combat aircraft for Ukraine are wings for freedom.”
The Ukrainian president finished his speech by thanking parliamentarians for their support.
“And leaving British parliament two years ago, I thanked you for delicious English tea,” he said to laughter.
“And I will be leaving the parliament today thanking all of you in advance for powerful English planes.
“God bless Great Britain and long, long live the King. Slava Ukraini.”
Mr Zelenskyy was then driven to Buckingham Palace to have a meeting with the King, who was seen dashing back from an appointment through Westminster.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy shakes MPS hands after his speech
Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets King Charles
Boris Johnson gets personal thanks
Former prime minister Boris Johnson, who has a close relationship with Mr Zelenskyy and has been one of Ukraine’s most vocal backers, was spotted in the crowd of politicians.
The Ukrainian leader singled out Mr Johnson, thanking him personally for extending “your helping hand when the world had not yet come to understand how to react”. They then shared a long handshake and brief chat as the Ukrainian left the hall.
Following the speech, Mr Johnson reiterated his calls for the UK to increase its support for Ukraine with longer-range missiles and artillery as well as more tanks and Typhoon jets.
Mr Zelenskyy added to parliament that the UK “all showed your grit and character” and the “strong British character” at the beginning of the war.
“You did not compromise your ideals and thus you didn’t compromise the spirit of this great alliance. Thank you very much,” he added.
Winston Churchill’s war chair
He received one of many ovations after saying: “Do you have a feeling that the evil will crumble once again? I can see in your eyes now we think the same way as you do.
“We know freedom will win. We know. We know Russia will lose.
“And we really know the victory. The victory will change the world. And this will be a change that the world has long needed.”
Winston Churchill also got a mention as Mr Zelenskyy said two and a half years ago he came to London, when he had just been made president, and sat in Winston Churchill’s armchair “from which war orders were given” at the Churchill War Rooms.
“I certainly felt something, but it is only now that I know what the feeling was – and all Ukrainians know it perfectly well too,” he told parliamentarians.
“It is the feeling of how bravery takes you through the most unimaginable hardships to finally reward you with victory
“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your bravery, from all of us.”
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Rishi Sunak welcomed Zelenskyy
Surprise visit
In an unannounced visit, the Ukrainian president arrived in the UK on Wednesday just before 10.30am on an RAF plane at Stansted Airport, where Prime Minister Rishi Sunak greeted him.
Both leaders travelled to Downing Street in a cavalcade before they entered Number 10 to clapping from behind the doors for the president and his sizeable security detail, something usually only reserved for a new prime minister.
After entering No 10, Mr Zelenskyy thanked Britain for its “big support from the first days of full-scale invasion” and said his country has “very good relations with Rishi”.
The visit is only Mr Zelenskyy’s second visit outside Ukraine since Russia invaded last February. He travelled to the United States just before Christmas and stopped off in Poland on the way back.
Mr Zelenskyy is set to meet King Charles at Buckingham Palace this afternoon and will visit also Ukrainian troops training in the UK.
Moments after Mr Zelenskyy arrived, the UK imposed further sanctions on companies supplying equipment to Russia for the war and Russians connected to “nefarious financial networks”, helping the Kremlin elites maintain wealth and power.
Mr Sunak also announced an “immediate” surge of military equipment for Ukraine, an offer to train 20,000 more Ukrainian troops, plus training for fighter jet pilots so they can fly NATO-standard fighter jets and a training programme for marines.
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The COP29 climate talks have reached a last ditch deal on cash for developing countries, pulling the summit back from the brink of collapse after a group of countries stormed out of a negotiating room earlier.
The slew of deals finally signed off in the small hours of Sunday morning in Azerbaijan includes one that proved hardest of all – one about money.
Eventually the more than 190 countries in Baku agreed a target for richer polluting countries such as the UK, EU and Japan to drum up $300bn a year by 2035 to help poorer nations both curb and adapt to climate change.
It is a far cry from the $1.3trn experts say is needed, and from the $500bn that vulnerable countries like Uganda had said they would be willing to accept.
But in the end they were forced to, knowing they could not afford to live without it, nor wait until next year to try again, when a Donald Trump presidency would make things even harder.
Bolivia’s lead negotiator Diego Pacheco called it an “insult”, while the Marshall Islands’ Tina Stege said it was “not nearly enough, but it’s a start”.
UN climate chief Simon Stiell said: “This new finance goal is an insurance policy for humanity, amid worsening climate impacts hitting every country.
“No country got everything they wanted, and we leave Baku with a mountain of work still to do. So this is no time for victory laps.”
The funding deal was clinched more than 24 hours into overtime, and against what felt like all the odds.
The talks were rocked from the start by the incoming presidency of climate denier Mr Trump, the moment Argentina’s team were recalled back to Buenos Aires by their right-wing president and a controversial letter that sent shockwaves through the United Nations.
Pic: AP
The fraught two weeks of negotiations pitted the anger of developing countries who are footing the bill for more dangerous weather that they did little to cause, against the tight public finances of rich countries.
A relieved Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, climate envoy for Panama, said there is “light at the end of the tunnel”.
Just hours ago, the talks almost fell apart as furious vulnerable nations stormed out of negotiations in frustration over that elusive funding goal.
They were also angry with oil and gas producing countries, who stood accused of trying to dilute aspects of the deal on cutting fossil fuels.
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Climate-vulnerable nations storm out of talks
The UN talks work on consensus, meaning everyone has to agree for a deal to fly.
A row over how to follow up on last year’s pledge to “transition away from fossil fuels” was left unresolved and punted into next year, following objections from Chile and Switzerland for being too weak.
A draft deal simply “reaffirmed” the commitment but did not dial up the pressure in the way the UK, EU, island states and many others here wanted.
Saudi Arabia fought the hardest against any step forward on cutting fossil fuels, the primary cause of climate change that is intensifying floods, drought and fires around the world.
Governments did manage to strike a deal on carbon markets at COP29, which has been 10 years in the making and will allow countries to trade emissions cuts.
‘Not everything we wanted’
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The UK’s energy secretary, Ed Miliband, said the deal is “not everything we or others wanted”, but described it as a “step forward”.
“It’s a deal that will drive forward the clean energy transition, which is essential for jobs and growth in Britain and for protecting us all against the worsening climate crisis,” he added.
“Today’s agreement sends the signal that the clean energy transition is unstoppable.
“It is the biggest economic opportunity of the 21st century and through our championing of it we can help crowd in private investment.”
Protesters at the summit in Baku. Pic: AP
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The Azerbaijan team leading COP29 said: “Every hour of the day, we have pulled people together. Every inch of the way, we have pushed for the highest common denominator.
“We have faced geopolitical headwinds and made every effort to be an honest broker for all sides.”
At least 20 people have been killed and 66 injured in Israeli strikes on central Beirut, Lebanese authorities have said.
Lebanon‘s health ministry said the death toll could rise as emergency workers dig through the rubble looking for survivors. DNA tests are being used to identify the victims, the ministry added.
The attack destroyed an eight-storey residential building and badly damaged several others around it in the Basta neighbourhood at 4am (2am UK time) on Saturday.
The central Basta neighbourhood in Beirut
The Israeli military did not warn residents to evacuate before the attack and has not commented on the casualties.
At least four bombs were dropped in the attack – the fourth targeting the city centre this week.
A separate drone strike in the southern port city of Tyre this morning killed two people and injured three, according to the state-run National News Agency.
The victims were Palestinian refugees from the nearby al Rashidieh camp who were out fishing, according to Mohammed Bikai, spokesperson for the Fatah Palestinian faction in the Tyre area.
Israel’s military warned residents today in parts of Beirut’s southern suburbs that they were near Hezbollah facilities, which the army would target in the near future. The warning, posted on X, told people to evacuate at least 500 metres away.
The army said that over the past day it had conducted intelligence-based strikes on Hezbollah targets in Dahiyeh, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence. It said it hit several command centres and weapons storage facilities.
Pic: AP
Israel has killed several Hezbollah leaders in air strikes on the capital’s southern suburbs.
Heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is ongoing in southern Lebanon, as Israeli forces push deeper into the country since launching a major offensive in September.
According to the Lebanese health ministry, at least 3,670 people have been killed in Israeli attacks there, with more than 15,400 wounded.
It has displaced about 1.2 million people – a quarter of Lebanon’s population – while Israel says about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed in northern Israel.
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‘Dozens’ of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike
Meanwhile, six people, including three children and two women, were killed in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis.
Some 44,176 Palestinians have been killed since the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but it has said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage.
US envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region this week to try to end more than 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, ignited last October by the war in Gaza.
Mr Hochstein indicated progress had been made after meetings in Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday, before going to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Israel Katz.
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