EXCLUSIVE: Andy Burnham says he and other European leaders plan to travel to the US next month to lobby Donald Trump to let Ukraine access some of its Patriot air defence missile stocks ahead of the winter. “I’m looking forward to going to New York in September,” Burnham said in an interview with Bloomberg in Kyiv, referring to the upcoming UN General Assembly meeting. It would be his first trip to the US since becoming PM. “I’ve not fully confirmed the details yet but it’s likely I will go, particularly after today’s discussion,” he said. “Leaving today, I’m quite clear what I need to do in the next few weeks.” He said European leaders were considering holding another Coalition of the Willing meeting around UNGA with a view toward securing American interceptors and stocks from other countries. It is Ukraine’s main ask as it faces a dire situation with Russia escalating attacks and another difficult winter ahead. “That would seem to be the most likely pace of direction,” Burnham said. “Not confirmed yet, but that seemed like where most people’s minds were going.”  Burnham said he left feeling “really optimistic” that Ukraine’s current struggle defending against Russian ballistic missile strikes due to its low stockpile of interceptors is “fixable.” “There are other players who could help in the mix who we have influence with,” the PM said. “It’s probably going to be a solution that involves a lot of layers and a lot of negotiation.” More from the interview later but here’s first story >>> bloomberg.com/news/articles/…