Keir Starmer and Volodymyr Zelenskyy to have urgent meeting in UK after Russia warning

Zelenskyy has identified a "coalition of killers"

It comes after at least seven people were killed in a Russian air strike in Kyiv.

Zelenskyy described an alliance between Russia, North Korea and Iran as a "coalition of killers" and said he would be in the UK sounding the alarm.

He said: “After the strikes on Iran’s nuclear program facilities, there was a lot of noise from Moscow – the Russian leadership demonstratively condemned the ‘rocket-bomb’ steps.

“Today, Moscow is silent after the Russian army launched an absolutely cynical strike with Russian-Iranian [drones] and missiles on the civilian infrastructure of Kyiv and other our cities and communities. In Kyiv alone, five apartment buildings were damaged.

“These are ordinary residential buildings. As of now, six people are known to have been killed.”

He added: “Everyone in the countries next to Russia, Iran, and North Korea should think about whether they will be able to protect life there if this coalition of killers persists and continues to spread terror.

“Today, during my visit to Britain, I will talk to my partners about exactly this - about our defence, which should become the basis for a much stronger common defence. And we will also agree on new and strong steps to put pressure on Russia for this war and to stop the strikes.”

All this comes after Zelenskyy claimed that Putin was gearing up to start military operations in Europe.

The Ukrainian leader said his country is "preparing joint decisions for defence, in particular with the United Kingdom and the European Union" and promised to keep allies in the loop.

Speaking at a UN conference Russia's United Nations ambassador Vassily Nebenzia issued an warning at an emergency meeting of the Security Council as he said: "No one knows what new catastrophes and suffering it will bring."

He said Trump had "opened Pandora's box" in attacking Iran.

He added: "Unless we stop the escalation, the Middle East will find itself on the verge of a large-scale conflict with unpredictable consequences for the entire international security system, plus the entire world might end up on the verge of a nuclear disaster."