Britain yesterday urged fellow allies of Ukraine to reach a deal to use frozen Russian assets to strengthen its hand for any future peace talks, as President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in London for talks with those allies.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office said he would also press the "Coalition of the Willing" countries to take Russian oil and gas off the global market and give Kyiv more long-range missiles.

European Union leaders agreed yesterday to meet Ukraine's "pressing financial needs" for the next two years but stopped short of endorsing a plan to use frozen Russian assets to fund a giant loan to Kyiv over Belgian concerns.

Zelensky had asked the EU leaders in Brussels yesterday for long-range missiles and to use the frozen assets to provide it with more weapons, reports Reuters.

He also welcomed US President Donald Trump's decisionto impose sanctions on Russia's two biggest oil companies, a dramatic U-turn after last week announcing plans for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Starmer said Putin was not serious about ending the war.

"Time and again we offer Putin the chance to end his needless invasion, to stop the killing and recall his troops, but he repeatedly rejects those proposals and any chance of peace," he said in a statement.

"We must ratchet up the pressure on Russia and build on President Trump's decisive action."

Moscow has promised a "painful response" if the assets are seized. Putin also said the sanctions on oil companies were an unfriendly act, but would not significantly affect the Russian economy.

Meanwhile, Russia said yesterday it had captured four more villages in eastern Ukraine, the latest gains of costly metre-for-metre battles as the war enters its fourth winter, reports AFP.

The Russian army said it had taken control of Bolohivka in the Kharkiv region, Dronivka and Promin in the Donetsk region, as well as Pershotravneve in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

According to a battlefield map published by DeepState, a website run by Ukrainian military analysts, the settlements are still under Ukrainian control.

The frontline settlements are largely devastated by the heavy prolonged fighting, usually with a few inhabitants left.

Ukraine had recaptured large parts of the Kharkiv region, including Bolohivka, in a swift campaign in autumn 2022, triggering a Russian military draft for the first time since World War II.