After meeting Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Mr Zelensky met with French President Emmanuel Macron.

In Paris, Macron and Zelenskyy embraced before discussions on the plan at France’s presidential Elysee Palace. Afterwards, Zelenskyy said “all the details” would come in November and that he is talking to allies about securing more military aid and permission for Ukrainian forces to carry out long-range strikes.

Kiev wants Western partners to allow attacks deep into Russia, using long-range weapons supplied by them. Some, including Britain and France, appear willing to do so, but Biden is cautious about escalating the conflict.

He later met in Rome with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who assured Italy’s full and continued support “at both bilateral and multilateral levels to put Kiev in the best possible position to build a just and lasting peace.”

Meloni said the meeting provided an opportunity to discuss the situation on the ground and Ukraine’s “most immediate military, financial and humanitarian needs, as well as upcoming diplomatic initiatives and the path to ending the conflict.”

Volodymyr Zelensky presented his ‘victory plan’ to Sir Keir Starmer as pressure mounted on Britain to allow Ukraine to use Storm Shadow missiles to attack targets in Russia.

During three-way conversations in Downing Street, the Prime Minister, the Ukrainian President and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte discussed the state of the war.

Rutte said there is no legal reason to prevent the use of Western-supplied weapons against targets in Russia, but that decisions must be made by individual states.

After the talks in Issue 10, Mr Zelensky said: “The victory plan aims to create the right conditions for a just end to the war.

“I thank the United Kingdom for its continued defense support to our country, including with long-range weapons.”

President Vladimir Putin has begun a visit to Turkmenistan, where he spoke at an international forum with Central Asian leaders and the president of Iran.

The Kremlin said Putin will discuss the situation in the Middle East with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the conference in the Turkmen capital Ashgabat.

Moscow and Tehran signed a $1.7 billion deal for Iran to export drones to Russia after Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022, and the US also believes it has transferred short-range ballistic missiles.

In his opening speech at the forum, Putin reiterated that he wants to build “a new world order” with Russia’s friends and partners, according to the video shared by the Kremlin.

Ukrainian forces control about half of the strategic city of Toretsk in eastern Ukraine as they try to stave off attacks from Russian forces, the city’s local authorities said Friday.

“It can be said that about 40 to 50 percent of the city is under the control of the Ukrainian armed forces, while the rest of the territory has been captured by the enemy,” Vasyl Chynchyk, head of the Toretsk military city administration, said at the national television. .

Military analysts say capturing the Toretsk hilltop would allow Russian invasion forces to further complicate logistics for Ukrainian forces in much of the east.

Four people were killed by a Russian missile strike in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, Governor Oleh Kiper said

Mr Kiper said a ballistic missile struck a two-storey building where civilians lived and worked. Another ten people were injured.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed the support Ukraine would need in its war against Russia in the coming months during talks in London, Starmer’s spokesman said.

The spokesman also reiterated Britain’s position that Ukraine has the right to attack targets on Russian territory under certain circumstances, but said Britain’s position on the use of its long-range Storm Shadow missiles was unchanged.

“We obviously want to put Ukraine in the strongest position. But no war has ever been won with a single weapon. And with regard to Storm Shadow specifically, there has been no change in the UK government’s position on the use of long-range missiles,” the spokesperson said.

Zelensky also met NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in London. When asked about long-range weapons, Rutte told reporters: “We discussed it today, but ultimately it is up to the individual allies.”

NATO will hold a long-planned major nuclear exercise next week, the alliance’s leader said, a few weeks after Vladimir Putin announced changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine to discourage Ukraine’s Western allies from backing attacks on his country.

The “Steadfast Noon” exercise starts on Monday and will last approximately two weeks. It will be led by Belgium and the Netherlands, use eight military bases and involve 2,000 personnel and 60 aircraft from 13 countries. The exercise has been held at approximately the same time every year for more than a decade.

Bombers and fighter jets that can carry nuclear warheads are participating. No live ammunition is used. Most of the exercise will be held about 900 km (560 miles) from Russia in the North Sea. Moscow has been informed about the exercises, NATO officials say.

Russia’s military command has deployed around 50,000 troops for its counteroffensive in Kursk Oblast against Ukrainian forces, Ukraine’s military chief said.

“We know that about 50,000 troops from other areas have been transferred to the Kursk front,” Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi told public broadcaster Suspilne last night.

This redeployment by Russia has weakened its position as it draws troops from other parts of the front line, he noted. “This, of course, made it easier for us to conduct defensive operations,” General Syrskyi said.