UK PM Burnham Plans US Trip to Push Trump on Ukraine Patriots

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he and other European leaders plan to travel to the US next month to lobby President Donald Trump to let Ukraine access Patriot air defense missile stocks ahead of winter, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, Aug. 25. “I’m looking forward to going to New York in September,” Burnham told Bloomberg in Kyiv on Monday evening, referring to the upcoming UN General Assembly meeting. It would be his first trip to the US since becoming prime minister.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. “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.” Ukraine seeks Patriots before winter Burnham’s comments came during his first international visit since becoming prime minister, after he chaired a meeting of Ukraine’s allies for the first time and held a bilateral meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky has repeatedly urged European countries and the US to help Ukraine obtain Patriot missile interceptors and replenish its stocks before winter, when Russia is expected to intensify attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Patriot interceptors are currently the most effective weapons for shooting down Russian cruise and, especially, ballistic missiles. Burnham said he left Kyiv feeling “really optimistic” that Ukraine’s current difficulty defending against Russian ballistic missile attacks due to low interceptor stocks is “fixable.” Other Topics of Interest Independent Ukraine at 35: A Sober Look Into the Future As Ukraine celebrates the 35th anniversary of its independent statehood, the country stands at a crossroads between endurance and renewal. Coalition of the Willing may meet in New York Burnham said European leaders were considering holding another Coalition of the Willing meeting around the UN General Assembly in New York, with the aim of 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.” The UK does not use the Patriot missiles Ukraine needs, Burnham said, adding that other European countries should step up. “There are other players who could help in the mix who we have influence with,” he said. “It’s probably going to be a solution that involves a lot of layers and a lot of negotiation.” Trump calls Patriot technology a ‘hard thing’ to share Trump has backtracked on an earlier promise to provide or let Kyiv build interceptors for US-made Patriot missile defense systems, Bloomberg reported. The war in Iran has also seriously depleted global Patriot stocks, leading to supply delays and making allies reluctant to send them to Kyiv. Trump said in July that he had not 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,” Trump told reporters at the time. UK gives Ukraine access to missile technology Burnham has moved to allow Ukraine access to closely guarded British defense technology. The UK prime minister will allow Ukraine access to classified information on British components for the long-range missile known as SCALP, enabling 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 defense,” Zelensky wrote on X late Monday, outlining his discussions with Burnham. Zelensky asks for 300 Patriot missiles Zelensky told reporters on Saturday that Ukraine is seeking 300 Patriot missiles for the winter. He has previously said that if Kyiv could buy 5 percent of US Patriot missile stocks, it would survive the winter, and if it could purchase 10 percent, it could destroy all of Russia’s ballistic missiles. Ukraine has already been facing a surge in Russian ballistic missile attacks, with a rising civilian death toll. At least 437 Ukrainian civilians were killed in July 2026, a 30 percent increase from a year earlier, according to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. August has seen several Russian attacks with high civilian casualties, including 15 killed in ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv on Thursday and 16 killed in a drone attack on a shopping center in Kryvyi Rih on Friday. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 97% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.