Sir Keir Starmer is pressing for face-to-face talks with Joe Biden and will urge him to release a $20bn (£15.5bn) aid package for Ukraine next week, The Telegraph reports.

Ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, the prime minister is hoping to speak with the outgoing president and attempt to persuade him to step up help to Ukraine.

This includes allowing Ukraine to strike deep inside Russia’s territory with Western-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.

Yesterday, Sir Keir and French President Emmanuel Macron also discussed putting Ukraine in the “strongest possible position going into winter”.

The meeting came amid suggestions that the UK and France could seek to persuade Biden to grant Ukraine permission to use Storm Shadow missiles to strike into Russia before he leaves the White House. 

What are Storm Shadow missiles?

The Storm Shadow was originally developed as a project between the UK and France in the early 1990s.

It was used in Iraq in 2003, while France, Italy and the UK used it in Libya in 2011.

The missiles have also been used to bomb Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pleaded with Western nations for these types of missiles for months – but the requests have been denied, especially by the US.

The missile has a strike capability of nearly 200 miles (300km) – meaning it would potentially allow Ukraine to hit further into Russian territory.