The Kremlin today described David Cameron’s statement that Ukraine could use British weapons against targets inside Russia as a “direct escalation” of the conflict.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary on Thursday pledged £3bn of annual military aid to Ukraine “for as long as it takes”.
Announcing the aid, Lord Cameron, who is in kyiv today, added that London had no objection to Ukrainian forces using weapons inside Russia.
Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov angrily responded to the senior conservative and former prime minister, describing the comments as “dangerous” and “escalated.”
They could endanger the entire system of European security architecture, he said, while criticizing French President Emmanuel Macron’s reiteration on Thursday that the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine should not be ruled out.
The Kremlin has called David Cameron’s statement that Ukraine could use British weapons against targets inside Russia if it wanted a “direct escalation” of the conflict. Pictured: Lord Cameron shakes hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in kyiv today
Moscow has reacted angrily to Macron’s previous suggestions that the West could deploy forces to support Kiev, presenting it as evidence of NATO’s direct involvement in the conflict and its hostile and aggressive stance toward Russia.
‘The declaration [from Macron] “It’s very important and very dangerous,” Peskov told reporters on Friday.
Macron ‘continues to constantly talk about the possibility of direct involvement on the ground in the conflict around Ukraine. “This is a very dangerous trend,” he added.
Peskov said the recent statements by Macron and Cameron “potentially represent a danger for European security, for the entire European security architecture.”
‘We see a dangerous trend towards escalation in official statements. “This worries us,” she added.
kyiv has attacked several energy sites inside Russia in recent months, using explosives-laden drones to attack refineries and oil depots hundreds of kilometers behind the front lines.
Ukraine says its attacks are justified retaliation for Moscow’s attacks and target a source of fuel and income for the Russian military.
In an interview with Reuters during his visit to kyiv, Cameron said: ‘We will give three billion pounds every year for as long as it takes. We’ve really emptied everything we can in terms of donating equipment.’
He said the UK’s donation of military equipment would include the supply of precision-guided bombs and missiles and air defense equipment for 100 mobile air defense teams to enable Ukraine to shoot down Russia’s drones and missiles.
He added that the aid package was the UK’s largest yet. “Some of that (equipment) will arrive in Ukraine today, while I am here,” she said.
Cameron said Ukraine had the right to use weapons provided by London to attack targets inside Russia, and it was up to kyiv to do so.
“Ukraine has that right. “Just as Russia is attacking inside Ukraine, you can understand why Ukraine feels the need to make sure it defends itself,” Cameron told Reuters outside St Michael’s Cathedral.
Cameron, who led the UK between 2010 and 2016 as prime minister and only returned to the political front line several months ago, met Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on his second visit to kyiv as Foreign Secretary.
Britain’s top diplomat also welcomed the release by the US Congress of a long-delayed $60 billion aid package.
“It is absolutely crucial, not only in terms of the weapons it will bring, but also the morale boost it will bring to the people here in Ukraine,” he said.
A photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service shows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meeting British Foreign Secretary David Cameron (right) in kyiv today.
Some of that aid appeared to have already been used this week, with images online showing an alleged long-range missile attack on Russian troops.
Analysts said the attack was carried out by an American-made ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) and killed more than 100 Russian soldiers at a training camp.
These long-range weapons will allow Ukrainian forces to strike deep within Russian-controlled territory, as well as deep into Russia itself.
kyiv had long been calling for the United States, the United Kingdom and other Western allies to send such weapons to Ukraine to allow it to attack key military targets that would otherwise be out of reach, forcing Russia to withdraw its own more equipment. away from the front line.
Since Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2024, Russia has frequently attacked the West for its support for kyiv.
In March this year, Russia said it considered itself at war because of Western intervention on Ukraine’s side, in a notable shift in its language around the conflict.
Analysts suggested this was to prepare the Russian public for a longer and tougher fight than it initially anticipated when Moscow believed it could seize kyiv and overthrow Zelensky’s government in a matter of days.
In another sign that the Kremlin is taking steps to show the public that it is at war with the West, Western tanks and military equipment captured by Russian forces in Ukraine were displayed in Moscow on Wednesday in an exhibition that the Russian military said showed to the West. aid would not prevent him from winning the war.
Long lines of people appeared at the entrance to the exhibition titled “Trophies of the Russian Army”, held outside a museum celebrating the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.
“History repeats itself,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement, adding that in 1943 the Soviet Union had also displayed captured tanks and equipment, in this case from the German army.
People visit an exhibition showing Western military equipment captured by Russian forces in Ukraine, displayed at the World War II memorial complex on western Poklonnya Hill in Moscow, May 1.
‘The strength is in the truth. It has always been like this. In 1943 and today. These war trophies reflect our strength.
“The more there are, the stronger we will be,” the ministry said, predicting a Russian victory in what it officially calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
“No Western military equipment will change the situation on the battlefield,” he added.
According to Western and Ukrainian critics, much of Russian military equipment is old or outdated, and Russian advances on the battlefield are due to sheer numerical strength and high casualties. Both sides keep the number of dead and wounded secret, but they are known to have suffered heavy losses.