Ukrainian president Zelensky meets UK prime minister Rishi Sunak

President Zelensky met with prime minister Rishi Sunak at the Chequers - the prime minister's official country home in Aylesbury in the UK

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky met with UK prime minister Rishi Sunak during a surprise visit to the UK.

President Zelensky's visit was part of a tour of European countries to meet with leaders to ask for help in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.

A representative for Mr Sunak said their meeting was "warm" and Mr Zelensky said Ukraine and the UK were "real partners".

Why did Mr Zelensky visit?

President Zelensky also met with leaders from Rome, Berlin and Paris on his tour.

Mr Zelensky has made several visits to other countries and also made video appearances at big events to keep attention on what is happening in Ukraine.

He also asked for more weapons and supplies to Ukraine to fight back against Russia after it invaded his country in 2022.

On Monday, the Ukrainian president had about two hours of talks with Mr Sunak at Chequers, near London.

He arrived on British soil for a surprise visit after a whirlwind tour of Western Europe that also took in Rome, Berlin and Paris.

The UK has promised to send hundreds of air defence missiles and armed drones to Ukraine on top of the help it has already given.

The two leaders discussed how the UK could help Ukraine

An official spokesperson for the UK's prime minister said that any missiles or drones given to Ukraine by the UK would not be used to hit targets inside Russia and only for the defence of Ukraine on Ukrainian territory.

Mr Zelensky also repeated his request for fighter jets as well but the prime minister said providing fighter jets was "not a straightforward thing".

His official spokesman confirmed that UK has no plans to send fighter jets to Ukraine but said that basic training for Ukrainian pilots would begin this summer.

In response, Russia said that the UK's supply of weapons to Ukraine would only cause "further destruction".

"Britain aspires to position itself at the forefront of the countries that continue to pump weapons into Ukraine," said Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov.