The UK is preparing to welcome Volodymyr Zelensky on his first official state visit next year, in a powerful display of solidarity with Ukraine as it continues to face Russia’s invasion.
King Charles is expected to invite the Ukrainian president, potentially paving the way for the landmark visit in 2027.
Mr Zelensky has travelled to Britain 13 times since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, but he has never made an official state visit. He has, however, held private meetings with the King and received an unprecedented welcome from Downing Street last month.
Some of the traditional ceremonial elements may be scaled back because Mr Zelensky remains a wartime leader. Even so, the visit would represent a significant statement of the close relationship between Britain and Ukraine as Kyiv continues to resist Russian aggression.
The proposed visit comes as Ukraine’s relationship with the United States faces renewed uncertainty, following Donald Trump’s apparent rapprochement with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his recent attacks on Mr Zelensky’s leadership and conduct of the war.
Next year will mark five years since Russian forces invaded their European neighbour. On Saturday night, Russia continued its campaign of bombardment with a series of deadly strikes across Ukraine.
Government officials confirmed that plans for the state visit were under consideration, while stressing that no final arrangements had yet been made. The proposal was first reported by the Financial Times.
The date has not been announced, but the newspaper reported that the visit is unlikely to be held alongside the G20 summit in Manchester next November, to which Mr Zelensky has also been invited.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and King Charles III pictured after inspecting a guard of honour at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, in October 2025
Andy Burnham embraced Volodymyr Zelensky outside Downing Street in October in a public display of support for Ukraine’s president
Ukrainian firefighters tackle a blaze at an infrastructure site after a Russian missile strike in the Kyiv region on Saturday
“You do not simply attach a state visit to a summit—it would weaken the impact we want it to have,” a UK official told the Financial Times.
The King is understood to support the idea of a more restrained state visit, reflecting the suffering Ukraine continues to endure. Officials recognise that the grandeur and pageantry usually associated with such occasions could appear inappropriate during an ongoing war.
Earlier this year, Mr Zelensky invited the King to make a state visit to Ukraine during a private audience at Windsor Castle.
The Ukrainian president has also credited King Charles with helping persuade Donald Trump to reconsider his position on support for Ukraine during the US president’s own state visit to Britain in September 2025.
A future visit could also include an address similar to Mr Zelensky’s historic speech in Westminster Hall in 2023, when he appealed to MPs, peers and parliamentary officials for continued British backing.
During his latest trip to Britain last month, Mr Zelensky met Andy Burnham in Downing Street and was welcomed with an unprecedented guard of honour.
“We are behind you, and that will not change,” the Prime Minister told him after embracing him on the steps of Downing Street.
Mr Zelensky replied: “Our people have survived and continue to do so because we have strong partners. I am very proud that we have one of the strongest partners in our history—and that is your people, Andy.”
Mr Zelensky previously met King Charles at Buckingham Palace and personally thanked him for his “unwavering support” for Ukraine
Mr Zelensky and his wife Olena Zelenska were welcomed by Ireland’s President Catherine Connolly at Áras an Uachtaráin during a visit to Dublin in December 2025
Mr Zelensky has also held talks with former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and former Conservative leader Rishi Sunak. His first visit to Britain after the invasion included the landmark parliamentary address.
Although Mr Trump has previously backed Ukraine—a position Mr Zelensky said the King helped reinforce—the relationship between Washington and Kyiv has been increasingly volatile during the Trump presidency.
The dispute has intensified in recent weeks, with Mr Trump repeatedly criticising and rebuking the Ukrainian president.
Mr Trump said Ukraine should “get a new leader” after Mr Zelensky attacked the US president’s surprise diesel agreement with Mr Putin ahead of the American midterm elections.
Mr Zelensky described Mr Trump’s announcement of a personal arrangement with the Russian president as “a gift to Putin”.
He also condemned Washington’s decision to lift sanctions to facilitate the diesel supply, warning that it would enable the Russian leader to “kill more people” and prolong the war.
Mr Trump, however, blamed the fuel crisis on Ukraine and argued that Kyiv should not have targeted Russian refineries.
“I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal,” he told reporters as the confrontation escalated. “I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president.”
An employee stands among the remains of a kindergarten damaged in a Russian mass missile attack on Kyiv on Saturday
Warning that Mr Zelensky “better damn well stop”, Mr Trump accused him of creating “problems for the world and our farmers and ranchers” by attacking refineries.
“We told them, ‘Do whatever you want, but don’t hit the diesel fuel, because this is a big problem, a big shortage.’”
“And what does he do? He goes and hits the diesel fuel.”
Mr Trump then signed an executive order blocking planned US sanctions on Russian oil and gas exports, a decision that was welcomed by Moscow.
However, just a week ago, Mr Trump agreed to provide Ukraine with 500 Patriot missiles. Mr Zelensky offered a cautious response, warning that the systems might not arrive until 2032.
He said Kyiv had asked Washington for a “winter support package” supplying 100 Patriot interceptors each month, as Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure continued “every single day”. He said 500 missiles “would be enough to protect our skies”.
“We are asking for decisions that can guarantee the protection of lives—not the day after tomorrow or sometime later, but at the very moment the threat exists, when Russia is killing and destroying.”
Russia’s assault has continued as winter draws closer, with Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine remaining under sustained attack.
Russian strikes have left Kyiv’s three million residents facing frequent power outages, water shortages and a sewage system nearing collapse, as the Kremlin seeks to weaken Ukrainian morale.
Several waves of Russian ballistic missiles struck Kyiv this morning, damaging key infrastructure, including the Pivnichnyi Bridge.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a residential building and a kindergarten were also hit. Six people, including a 14-year-old girl, were injured.
Mr Zelensky said overnight strikes had also hit substations linking the Rivne and Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plants with Kyiv and central Ukraine.
Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia had launched 172 Shahed drones by Saturday morning, including 137 jet-powered models, along with an unspecified number of ballistic missiles.
Ukrainian forces also attacked several sites inside Russia, including the Saratov oil refinery and the Almaz military factory.
