The Observer reports:

King Charles will hold an ­official audience at Sandringham with the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday as the UK and EU demonstrate their “unwavering” ­support after his humiliation at the hands of Donald Trump and JD Vance in the White House.

Keir Starmer will also host European heads of government and the leaders of Canada and Turkey at a special defence summit aimed at presenting a united front on the Ukraine crisis.

On arrival in Downing Street for a meeting with Starmer on Saturday night, just 24 hours after Trump and his vice-president Vance subjected him to a 10-minute tirade in the Oval Office, Zelenskyy said he was “very happy” that the king had agreed to the meeting.

The offer of a royal audience was seen at Westminster as a deliberate move to give the Ukrainian president equal treatment to Trump, who was presented during his meeting at the White House on Wednesday by Starmer with an invitation to a ­second state visit to the UK, including a meeting with King Charles.

Last night there were reports that the UK would show further solidarity by unlocking billions of pounds of frozen Russian assets to Ukraine. The Sunday Times claimed Rachel Reeves would divert money earmarked for green investment in the UK to the defence industry. It would be the first time that money from frozen Russian assets would contribute towards military spending.

The irate exchanges between Trump and Vance, on the US side, and Zelenskyy, which led to the Ukrainian president being told to leave the White House before any formal talks took place, led to fears among European and other world leaders of irreparable damage to the western alliance, and to the hopes of peace in Ukraine’s war with Russia. At today’s defence summit, which demonstrates the increasingly central role being played by the UK in Europe’s defence and security, Starmer will be clear that Europe must stand united against President Putin.

Starmer said last night: “Three years on from Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, we are at a turning point. Now is the time for us to unite in order to guarantee the best outcome for Ukraine, protect European security and secure our collective future.” [Continue reading…]