The Kremlin has warned it will take an “appropriate response” if Ukraine uses Western missiles to attack Russian soil.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has increasingly urged the West to allow its forces to use long-range weapons, including US ATACMS missiles, against Russian territory to combat an invasion of his nation. Now in its 30th month.
US President Joe Biden said last night that his administration was ““We are working on it now,” he said when asked if he would lift restrictions on kyiv’s use of missiles such as the ATACMS.
In response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that Vladimir Putin’s forces would demand an “appropriate response” if Ukraine was allowed to use Western missiles, but added that “there is no need to expect some kind of response everywhere.”
“The answer to all these actions is SMO (special military operation),” Peskov said, using the Kremlin’s preferred term for the Ukraine conflict.
“Each of these decisions, taken by the Western collective and then attributed to Ukraine, is a further confirmation of the justification, necessity and inevitability of the SMO.”
This comes as British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited kyiv in a rare joint visit that was unusually announced in advance – a public signal of British-American support for Ukraine ahead of what is likely to be a brutal winter of Russian attacks.
Vladimir Putin’s government (pictured) has warned it will take an “appropriate response” if Ukraine uses Western missiles to attack Russian soil.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken (L) and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy arrive at a train station in kyiv, on September 11, 2024.
An ATACMS missile is fired at White Sands, New Mexico, United States
Britain has increasingly supported Ukraine militarily, supplying its military with Storm Shadow missiles, which have a range of 250 kilometres, but banning kyiv from firing them towards Russian territory.
Washington, meanwhile, has been reluctant to supply Ukraine with long-range weapons to strike targets inside Russia for fear such a move could escalate the bloodiest conflict on European soil in decades.
But sources revealed last week that the Biden administration was close to a deal to deliver those weapons to Ukraine, but that kyiv would have to wait several months while the United States worked out technical issues before any shipment.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told Lammy today: “We hope that they will reach us and that we will have long-range means to attack enemy territory. We hope to count on your help and support in this matter.”
Shmyhal said yesterday that “if we are allowed to destroy military targets or weapons prepared by the enemy to attack Ukraine, it would certainly bring more security for our civilians, our people and our children.
“We are working towards this and will continue to strive for it every day.”
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy attends a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and other officials on September 11, 2024 in kyiv, Ukraine.
A Storm Shadow missile is displayed in the MBDA exhibition hall during the Farnborough International Airshow 2024 at the Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre on 22 July 2024
Referring to Iranian missiles, he added: “Russia’s use of weapons from its terrorist allies to attack Ukraine is a continuation of its genocidal war and terrorism on our territory. We must be able to respond to such terrorism in kind by destroying military targets on its territory to ensure greater security for our citizens.”
Lammy hailed the trip to Kyiv as “the first of its kind in a decade” at a press conference alongside his U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, while Blinken said: “One of the purposes of the trip that we’re going to take together is to hear directly from the Ukrainian leadership, including… President Zelensky, about exactly how Ukrainians see their needs right now, what goals they’re leading towards, and what we can do to support those needs.”
“All I can tell you is that we will listen carefully to our Ukrainian partners, we will both brief the Prime Minister and President Biden in the coming days, and I fully anticipate that this is something they will address when they meet on Friday.”
Asked whether Ukraine would be given permission to use UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles in Russia, Lammy said on Tuesday: “It is critically important that we travel together to hear from our Ukrainian counterparts and from President Zelensky their assessment of the situation on the ground and their needs on the ground.
“However, it would be entirely wrong to discuss the details of operational issues in a forum like this, because the only person who could benefit is Putin, and we will do nothing to give him any advantage in his illegal invasion.”
Meanwhile, the UK has announced sanctions against 10 ships operating as part of a “shadow fleet” seeking to evade the embargo on Russian oil.
The ships, described as “high volume offenders”, will now be banned from entering UK ports and denied access to the UK Ship Register.
Mr Lammy said: “Russia has been forced to spend more than $8bn (£6bn) to build up this shadow fleet. But with sanctioned tankers stranded and unable to load oil, we are determined that Putin’s investment will be a costly misstep for the Kremlin.”