Keir Starmer has told Volodymyr Zelensky he is ready to allow Ukraine to use billions of pounds of Russian assets frozen in the UK to defend his country.

Whitehall sources told the Daily Mail that ministers are close to agreeing a deal that would give Kyiv access to huge sums held in the wake of Vladimir Putin‘s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

One said a decision is expected ‘within days’ to unlock the Kremlin assets, which are estimated to be worth around £8billion.

The move is part of a wider push that could give Kyiv access to holdings worth tens of billions of pounds locked in EU countries.

A British official said Sir Keir had ‘updated’ Mr Zelensky on the issue at yesterday’s summit of European leaders in London.

‘He is updating Zelensky on the wider support on offer to Ukraine, including using the value of immobilised Russian assets,’ the source said. ‘We hope to see movement on that issue soon.’

The interest generated from an estimated £180billion of Russian assets held in European banks and institutions has already been used to help Kyiv’s fight against Putin’s aggression.

But the idea of permanently confiscating Russian assets has raised concerns about the precedent it could set. Belgium, where most of the money is held, has resisted the move amid fears of reprisals, including potential legal action by the Kremlin.

Keir Starmer (pictured, left) has told Volodymyr Zelensky (pictured, right) he is ready to allow Ukraine to use billions of pounds of Russian assets frozen in the UK to defend his country

Sir Keir is expected to discuss the issue with his Belgian counterpart this week. A British source said the UK would not ‘go it alone’ without wider European action, but added: ‘Given the sensitivities there is always the danger that things will slip again, but we are encouraged by the direction of travel.’

The exact mechanism for allowing Ukraine access to Russian funds is unclear and could involve loans. World leaders are also still debating what Kyiv should be allowed to do with the funds.

Britain is thought to be among a group of countries arguing for the use of the assets to fund Ukraine’s fight against Putin’s forces directly. Ministers believe the move could allow Ukraine to keep fighting for longer at a time when the war is starting to take a real toll on the Russian economy.

But other leaders want the money to be reserved for funding the reconstruction of Ukraine. Reports have claimed there is frustration with France over the ‘shielding’ of an estimated £18billion of Kremlin assets held in the country.

The Financial Times reported that Paris has so far refused to tell allies exactly how much Russian cash is in the country, or where it is held.

Last night Mr Zelensky said Ukraine is short of about £600million to buy the US weapons it had planned to purchase this year with help from its European allies. Sir Keir and Mr Zelensky gathered in No 10 yesterday with France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Friedrich Merz.

While the allies were eager to thank Donald Trump for his contribution to peace talks so as not to antagonise the US President, Mr Merz expressed frustration over the US’s peace plan, which requires Ukraine to sacrifice territory to Russia.

A fire in a residential area after Russian missiles and drone strikes in the Kyiv region of Ukraine, December 6, 2025

Rescuers working at the site of the overnight Russian missile and drone strikes in the Poltava region of Ukraine, December 7, 2025

‘I’m sceptical about some of the details which we are seeing in the documents coming from the US side, but we have to talk about that, that is why we are here,’ he said. ‘This could be a decisive time for all of us, so we are trying to continue our support for Ukraine. Nobody should doubt our support for Ukraine.’

Sir Keir said Ukraine needed ‘hard-edged security guarantees’. Praising Mr Trump, the Prime Minister said he had progressed the peace process ‘the furthest it has been in four years’.

But speaking before yesterday’s meeting, Sir Keir said peace had to be ‘lasting,’ because ‘Putin does not respect agreements that don’t have hard-edged security guarantees behind them’.