PM’s enriched uranium deal will power Kyiv’s reactors for two years
By Daniel Martin
Daniel Martin is the Deputy Political Editor for The Telegraph. Based in the Westminster press gallery, he leads coverage of national policy, parliamentary affairs, and the inner workings of the UK government.
Published 15 June 2026
Sir Keir Starmer will unveil plans to supply more nuclear fuel to Ukraine and ramp up sanctions against Russia as he meets G7 leadersin France on Tuesday.
Britain will supply enriched uranium to Ukraine’s nuclear power plants for another two years, with £210m of UK Export Finance support.
Urenco, a UK-based firm, will supply enriched uranium to Energoatom, Ukraine’s nuclear power producer, which provides more than half of the country’s electricity.
The deal was agreed between the Prime Minister and Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, during their meeting at Downing Street last week.
The sanctions package will directly target Moscow’s shadow fleet – just days after the Prime Minister ordered the Royal Marines to seize a shadow fleet tanker in the Channel.
Britain will tackle Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels moving sanctioned gas, as well as finance networks used by the Kremlin to circumvent the Western embargo and support military procurement.
The new measures will also target third-country suppliers helping Russia to illegally move money around the world.
This package is expected to take the UK-sanctioned shadow fleet and Russian LNG vessels to more than 600.
After unveiling the sanctions package at the summit in the lakeside French resort of Evian, Sir Keir will hold a one-to-one meeting with Mr Zelensky.
He will use the announcements to shore up his authority after John Healey quit as defence secretary last week, accusing the Prime Minister of putting the country’s safety at risk by refusing to properly fund military spending.
It comes as Sir Keir’s authority in the UK teeters on the brink, with Andy Burnham expected to use his anticipated victory in the Makerfield by-election to launch a leadership challenge.
The new action against Moscow comes after a six-hour operation on Sunday morning, when commandos and officers from the National Crime Agency boarded the Smyrtos, a Russian tanker off the south coast of England.
Inside six-hour mission to storm Putin’s shadow oil tanker
Sir Keir will take part in a round-table session on building peace and security for Ukraine and Europe, at which he will urge G7 leaders to go further to ensure Kyiv secures a lasting peace.
“Russia’s aggression threatens not just Ukraine, but the security of all Europe,” he said.
“That is why the UK is stepping up – choking off the revenues that fuel Putin’s war and powering Ukraine through the winters ahead.
“We will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes and this announcement reinforces that. Putin should roll back his tanks, end his barbaric strikes and come to the negotiating table.”
Central to the plans is an agreement to power Ukraine’s nuclear plants for another two years with £210m of UK Export Finance support.
The agreement is designed to support British jobs, as more than a third of the uranium content originates from Urenco’s processing plant in the north-west of England.
Urenco employs more than 650 people in the UK and its work at its Chester site supports over 4,500 jobs around the UK in the wider supply chain.
The financing builds on a previous two-year deal to supply nuclear fuel to Ukraine, and is designed to help it resist Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure.
Sir Keir met Donald Trump, the US president, for the first time on Monday night since they fell out over the Prime Minister’s refusal to support the US military campaign in Iran.
Sir Keir denied Mr Trump permission to use the UK/US air base on the Chagos islands, prompting Mr Trump to declare he was no Winston Churchill.
The pair met at a working dinner on international problems attended by all G7 leaders. It is not expected they will have a one-to-one meeting.
Great!
Now enrich some to weapons grade.