Sir Keir Starmer is to urge Joe Biden to release funds for a $20 billion (£15.5 billion) loan to Ukraine before Donald Trump takes office.

The Prime Minister is pressing to hold face-to-face talks with Mr Biden, the outgoing US president, when they both attend the G20 summit in Brazil next week.

Sir Keir is also expected to say Ukraine should finally be given permission to fire long-range Storm Shadow missiles deep into Russia, something Mr Biden has opposed.

Sir Keir and Emmanuel Macron, the French president, discussed getting the US to change its stance on Storm Shadows during talks in Paris on Monday, as revealed by The Telegraph.

The two leaders spent 20 minutes talking one-on-one about Ukraine, with the wider delegation of aides not in the room – a sign of the political sensitivity of the discussions.

A Number 10 spokesman said: “The leaders started by discussing the situation in Ukraine, including how best to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position going into the winter.”