Volodymyr Zelenskiy makes appeal for jets in address to British parliament

Denying there was any reticence, Sunak said it may take as long as three years to train the pilots to use UK jets. He noted there were supply chain issues, adding that some of the UK aircraft are linked to joint treaties with other countries. Forced on the defensive, he said the UK had been the most forward leading-edge country in supplying arms, and had broken the logjam on tanks by providing the Challenger 2s.

Only a week ago Sunak ruled out providing UK jets such as Typhoons, on the grounds that it was impractical since Ukrainian pilots would need as long as five years to be trained to operate them.

The other fighter Britain uses, the F-35, is made by Lockheed Martin of the US, and so any re-export decision would rest with Washington. It is so new and so expensive, it would simply be not as cost-effective as the F-16.

Zelenskiy was due to press the fighter jet issue further in Paris when on Wednesday night he held talks with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and Scholz ahead of a meeting with all 27 EU heads of government in Brussels.

Applause began as soon as he emerged through a side entrance and was escorted to a raised lectern at the front of the hall, and parliamentarians repeatedly interrupted the half-hour address with further clapping. Most MPs were gathered standing at the front of the 11th-century wooden-roofed structure, the oldest part of the parliamentary estate, while others crammed on to stairways to get a glimpse.

Additional reporting Peter Walker and Steven Morris