British PM Burnham plans US trip in Sept to lobby Trump on Ukraine needs
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
It would be British Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s first trip to the US since becoming prime minister.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- British PM Andy Burnham plans a September US trip to lobby President Trump for Ukraine's access to Patriot missile stocks before winter.
- Burnham is optimistic about fixing Ukraine’s low interceptor stockpile and supports a Coalition of the Willing meeting to secure US and allied missile supplies.
- Ukraine faces intensified Russian missile attacks causing civilian casualties; Zelensky seeks 300 Patriot missiles to defend against winter assaults.
AI generated
KYIV – British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he and other European leaders plan to travel to the US in September to lobby President Donald Trump to let Ukraine access some of its Patriot air defence missile stocks ahead of the winter.
“I’m looking forward to going to New York in September,” Burnham said in an interview with Bloomberg in Kyiv on the evening of Aug 24, referring to the upcoming UN General Assembly meeting in New York.
It would be his first trip to the US since becoming prime minister.
“I’ve not fully confirmed the details yet, but it’s likely I will go, particularly after today’s discussion,” he said. “Leaving today, I’m quite clear what I need to do in the next few weeks.”
Burnham’s comments came on his first international visit since becoming premier, after chairing a meeting of Ukraine’s allies for the first time and holding a bilateral meeting with Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky has made repeated pleas to European nations and the US to help Ukraine obtain Patriot missile interceptors and to replenish its stocks in time for winter, when Russia is expected to ramp up attacks on energy infrastructure again.
The interceptors are the most potent weapons to shoot down Russian cruise and ballistic missiles.
Burnham said he left feeling “really optimistic” that Ukraine’s current struggles defending against Russian ballistic missile strikes due to its low stockpile of interceptors is “fixable.”
He said European leaders were considering holding another Coalition of the Willing meeting around the UN General Assembly meeting with a view towards securing American interceptors and stocks from other countries.
“That would seem to be the most likely pace of direction,” Burnham said. “Not confirmed yet, but that seemed like where most people’s minds were going.”
He stressed that while Britain did not use the Patriot missiles required by Ukraine, other European nations needed to step up.
“There are other players who could help in the mix who we have influence with,” Burnham said. “It’s probably going to be a solution that involves a lot of layers and a lot of negotiation.”
A ‘hard thing’
Trump has backtracked on an earlier promise to provide or let Kyiv build interceptors for US-made Patriot missile defence systems.
The war in Iran has also seriously depleted global stocks of Patriot missiles, leading to delays in supplies and making allies reluctant to provide them to Kyiv.
Trump in July told reporters he hadn’t yet agreed to Ukraine’s request to build Patriot missiles.
“We’re talking about it, but it’s a hard thing to give away that kind of technology,” he said at the time.
Burnham, in contrast, has moved aggressively to allow Ukraine access to closely-guarded British defence technology.
The British prime minister will allow Ukraine access to classified information on British components for the long-range missile, called SCALP, allowing Kyiv to assemble the cruise missile in Ukraine.
“We value the fact that the UK’s course remains unchanged – full support for Ukraine and our defence,” Zelensky said in a post on X late on Aug 24 outlining his discussions with Burnham.
Zelensky told reporters on Aug 22 that he’s seeking 300 Patriot missiles for the winter.
He’s said previously that if Kyiv could buy 5 per cent of the US’ Patriot missile stockpile it would survive the winter, and if it could purchase 10 per cent it could destroy all of Russia’s ballistic missiles.
Ukraine has already been struggling with an onslaught of Russian ballistic attacks that have led to a rising death toll among its population.
At least 437 Ukrainian civilians were killed in July 2026, a 30 per cent increase on a year earlier, according to the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.
August has seen several Russian attacks with high civilian death tolls, with 15 killed in ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv on Aug 20 and 16 killed in a drone attack on a shopping centre in Kryvyi Rih on Aug 21. BLOOMBERG
