Prime Minister Liz Truss will be among G7 leaders holding crisis talks on Tuesday as Russia threatens further attacks on Ukraine’s cities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is urging the Group of Seven industrial powers to have “a strong reaction to the Russian missile terror” which killed at least 14 civilians and injured nearly 100 across Ukraine’s major cities during Monday morning rush-hour.
“Air defense is currently the number one priority in our defense cooperation,” Mr Zelensky tweeted.
The strikes hitting civilian areas were Russia’s response to the Kerch Bridge blast - which destroyed a key transport link between Russia and Crimea - that President Vladimir Putin has blamed on Ukraine.
Putin vowed a “tough” and “proportionate” response after the strikes on Monday should Ukraine carry out further attacks that threaten Russia’s security.
“No one should have any doubts about it,” he told Russia’s Security Council by video.
The G7 are holding virtual talks in unity of opposition to Putin’s “despicable campaign”, Downing St said.
The world leaders are expected to hear from Mr Zelensky during the teleconference.
He spoke with Ms Truss following the deadly attacks on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and major cities in 14 other regions, which left hundreds of thousands without electricity.
“We count on Britain‘s leadership in consolidating international political and defense support for Ukraine, in particular regarding the protection of our skies, and also in the further isolation of Russia,” Mr Zelensky said following a phone call with the prime minister.
Meanwhile Truss said the attacks on Ukraine “are a sign of Ukrainian success and increasing desperation by Putin in response”.
“The Prime Minister stressed that the UK stands wholeheartedly behind President Zelensky and Ukraine,” Downing St said.
“Putin’s destructive rhetoric and behaviour will not diminish our resolve. The leaders welcomed the deliveries of British military aid which continue to arrive in Ukraine.”
The number of Western leaders who have condemned the attacks is growing, with US President Joe Biden saying they had “no military purpose” and show “utter brutality” of Putin’s war.
He pledged advanced air systems to help Ukraine defend itself after the devastating missile barrage, the White House said.
Mr Zelensky said he has called on “US leadership with the G7’s tough stance”.
The attacks - spanning from Lviv in the west to Kharkiv in the east - occurred far from the war’s front lines.
Though Russia said missiles targeted military and energy facilities, some struck civilian areas while people were heading to work and school. One hit a playground in downtown Kyiv and another struck a university.
The attacks plunged much of the country into a power cut, depriving hundreds of thousands of people of electricity and creating a shortage so severe Ukrainian authorities announced they would have to stop power exports to Europe starting on Tuesday.
The head of Ukraine’s law enforcement said 70 infrastructure sites, of which 29 are critical, were damaged. The Ukrainian General Staff said 84 cruise missiles and 24 drones were used. Ukrainian forces shot down 56 aerial targets, it said.
Blasts struck in the capital’s Shevchenko district, which includes the historic old town and government offices, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
Some of the strikes hit near the government quarter in the capital’s symbolic heart, where parliament and other major landmarks are located.
Mr Zelensky, in a video address, said Russia “chose such a time and such targets on purpose to inflict the most damage.”
The strikes sent residents of Ukraine’s two largest cities — Kyiv and Kharkiv — into bomb shelters for the first time in months.
