King Charles is set to meet Volodymyr Zelensky at Sandringham on Sunday in a rare and dramatic sign of royal support via the Independent.
The King’s invitation to the Ukraine president came a day following President Donald Trump sparking worldwide outrage by insulting and abusing Zelensky at the White House.
And it is only a couple of days after Trump accepted an invitation from the King for an unprecedented second state visit to Britain – delivered to him personally by Sir Keir Starmer.
King Charles’s impromptu meeting with Mr Zelensky will take place after the president meets Sir Keir, who is hosting a weekend summit of EU leaders on the Ukraine crisis.
The gestures by both the King and the prime minister are bound to be seen as the clearest possible signal that Britain is backing Zelensky following his fall-out with Trump.
The decision to invite Zelensky to Sandringham is the most overtly political act the King has made since succeeding Queen Elizabeth. His mother went to great lengths to keep out of politics. However, by inviting Zelensky to meet him ahead of Trump, Charles runs the risk of upsetting the volatile president.
The European leaders look to the prime minister to pick up the pieces and resolve what, after a few angry minutes in the Oval Office, has become a full-blown crisis.
EU leaders, already full of regret for Mr Trump’s betrayal of Western democracy, will hear a blunt message from Sir Keir about how they need to move forward without relying on America as a security guarantee.
Sir Keir will welcome Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni to Downing Street on Sunday morning, before being joined at the summit in central London by the leaders of Ukraine, France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Turkey, Canada, Finland, Sweden, Czechia and Romania.
The Turkish foreign minister, Nato secretary general and the presidents of the European Commission and European Council will also attend.
The meeting with Ms Meloni could be crucial as she is close to the Trump administration and was even a guest of honour at the inauguration despite Italy failing to meet the Nato minimum of 2 per cent of GDP on defence spending.
Friday’s clash between Mr Zelensky and Mr Trump has been labeled as a “turning point” in the war with Russia, Sir Keir says he plans to “double down on my commitment to provide capacity, training and aid to Ukraine, putting it in the strongest possible position”.
“In partnership with our allies, we must intensify our preparations for the European element of security guarantees alongside continued discussions with the United States”, he said ahead of the meeting.
President Zelensky flew straight from Washington DC to London on Saturday for an emergency meeting with Sir Keir in Downing Street. The Ukrainian president is understood to have seen little value in trying to patch up his broken relationship with Mr Trump and Sir Keir’s open arms welcome has been taken as confirmation of his “unwavering support” for Ukraine.
