LONDON (AP) — A 21-year-old man was charged Thursday with three counts of arson for fires that targeted two properties and a car linked to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The Metropolitan Police force said Roman Lavrynovych, who was arrested Tuesday, was charged with arson with intent to endanger life.
The charges are linked to three incidents over the past week — a car fire on May 8, a fire Monday at Starmer’s private home that damaged the door of the house, and a fire Sunday outside a north London house converted into apartments connected to the U.K. leader. No injuries were reported from any of the fires.
Lavrynovych, a Ukrainian national, is due to appear in court on Friday. After he was arrested, Lavrynovych remained in custody after warrants of further detention were obtained, the police said in a statement.
Starmer moved with his family to the prime minister’s official Downing Street residence after taking office in July.
The investigation was led by counterterrorism detectives as it involves the prime minister, and the charges were authorized by the Crown Prosecution Service’s Counter Terrorism Division, which is responsible for prosecuting offenses relating to state threats, among other crimes.
Earlier this week, Starmer said the recent arson attacks represented “an attack on all of us, on democracy and the values that we stand for.”
The attacks were condemned by leaders across the House of Commons, including by the Conservative Party’s Kemi Badenoch, who described them as “completely unacceptable.”
Starmer’s former house has attracted protesters in the past. Last year, three pro-Palestinian activists were arrested and charged with public order offenses after unfurling a banner covered in red handprints outside the building.
Police Community Support Officers and Police Officers stand on the street near a house belonging to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Kentish Town in London, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Fire damage is seen in the doorway of a house belonging to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Kentish Town in London, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders are about to attempt something they’ve never tried before. The chances of failure are significant. Their actions this week could set dangerous precedents and a wrong move could undermine trust among the bloc's 27 member countries for years to come.
At a summit starting on Thursday, many of the leaders will press for tens of billions of euros in frozen Russian assets held in Europe to be used to meet Ukraine’s economic and military needs for the next two years.
Ukraine is on the verge of bankruptcy. The International Monetary Fund estimates that it will require a total of 137 billion euros ($160 billion) in 2026 and 2027. It must get the money by spring. The EU has pledged to come up with the funds, one way or another.
“One thing is very, very clear," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told EU lawmakers on Wednesday. "We have to take the decision to fund Ukraine for the next two years in this European Council.”
European Council President António Costa, who will chair the summit, has vowed to keep the leaders negotiating until an agreement is reached, even if it takes days.
The European Commission has proposed that the leaders use some of the frozen assets — totaling 210 billion euros ($246 billion) — to underwrite a 90 billion-euro ($105 billion) “reparations loan” to Ukraine. The U.K., Canada and Norway would fill the gap.
The plan is contentious. The European Commission insists that its reasoning and legal basis are sound. But the European Central Bank has warned that international trust in the euro single currency could be damaged, if the leaders are suspected of seizing the assets.
Most of the frozen assets belong to the Russian Central Bank and are held in the financial clearing house Euroclear, which is based in Brussels. Belgium fears Russian reprisals, through the courts or in other more nefarious ways.
Euroclear fears for its reputation. It believes the commission’s idea is legally shaky and that international investors might look elsewhere, if it transfers the Russian assets to an EU debt instrument, as von der Leyen's plan demands.
Last week, the Russian Central Bank announced that it's suing Euroclear in a Moscow court. The chances that the case will succeed appear limited, but the move does increase pressure on all parties before the summit.
The commission, the EU’s powerful executive branch, has proposed a second option. It could try to raise the money on international markets, much in the way it underwrote a major economic recovery fund after the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Belgium prefers this option. But plan B would require all 27 leaders to agree for it to work, and Hungary refuses to fund Ukraine. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sees himself as a peacemaker. He's also Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest ally in Europe.
In contrast, plan A — the reparations loan — only requires a majority of around two-thirds of member countries to pass. Hungary can't veto it alone. Slovakia might say no. Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy and Malta remain to be convinced.
Even if all six countries reject the loan to Ukraine — which would only be refunded if Russia ends its war and pays hundreds of billions of euros in war damages, something many Europeans doubt Putin would do — they still wouldn't have a blocking minority.
Running a steamroller over Belgium, which has a great stake in the outcome and deep concerns about the loan, could undermine the entire European project, making it infinitely more difficult to find voting majorities on other issues in the future.
But on the eve of the summit, it remained unclear precisely how the plan would work, what kind of guarantees each country would give to reassure Belgium it doesn't face Russia alone, and even whether the leaders can actually approve it outright this week.
“It’s a really new approach. Everyone has questions,” according to a senior EU diplomat involved in the negotiations, which continued on Wednesday. “You’re talking about mobilizing public finances. Parliaments might need to weigh in. It’s not easy.”
The diplomat was appointed to brief reporters on the latest developments on the condition that he not be named.
FILE - A view of the headquarters of Euroclear in Brussels, on Oct. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, File)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addresses a media conference regarding Ukraine's financing needs for 2026-2027 at EU headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Harry Nakos)
FILE - From left, European Council President Antonio Costa, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrive for an EU Summit at the European Council building in Brussels, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Havana, File)
