UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has vowed to maintain pressure on Russia despite what he described as Moscow’s “outrageous threats” during his first official visit to Ukraine as prime minister.
Burnham met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and chaired his first meeting of the “coalition of the willing”, established by the UK and France under his predecessor, Sir Keir Starmer, reports BBC.
He said the coalition was “doing everything we can” to support Ukraine, while urging the US Congress to “ratchet up” economic pressure on Russia.
The UK government has agreed to hand over blueprints for British-made components of the SCALP missile, the French version of the UK’s Storm Shadow cruise missile, allowing Ukraine to produce the long-range weapon domestically.
Burnham said allies were doing “everything we can” to “dig into our own stocks and help others dig into their stocks” of air defence systems to protect Ukraine.
“This is the moment to keep up the pressure on Russia, the moment to squeeze their ability to fund this illegal war,” Burnham said, praising the “strength” of the Ukrainian people.
“Ukraine has been Europe’s protector, not a drain on our security but the front line in keeping Europe safe.”
His comments came after Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov criticised the UK’s decision to share the missile blueprints, saying it prevented “even the slightest progress” towards achieving peace.
Peskov told reporters on Monday that the Russian military was already gathering data to locate missile production sites in order to destroy them.
“Britain is involved in this war on the side of the Kyiv regime. Britain methodically and regularly adds fuel to the fire,” he said.
In response, Burnham said: “Who started the fire? That’s the question, isn’t it?”
He said the issue of missile interceptors would be the main topic at the coalition of the willing meeting.
Former Russian deputy foreign minister Andrei Fedorov said the UK could face a “semi-military” response in retaliation for sharing military blueprints with Ukraine, but specified that this would be “not by Russia, but from unknown sources”.
“Something might happen with enterprises, with factories which are producing drones for Ukraine,” Fedorov said.
Asked if he was comfortable with a potential attack, he said: “No, I don’t think it’s okay, because the problem is that we are now facing, in front of the danger, that Ukrainian conflict will be beyond Ukrainian borders.”
Burnham has been reaffirming the UK’s backing for Kyiv amid escalating Russian strikes on Ukraine in recent weeks, including an attack on a shopping centre on Friday that killed at least 16 people.
In a joint statement after the meeting, Burnham and co-chairs French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the group would seek to strengthen Kyiv’s air defences “as a matter of urgent priority”.
They also condemned Moscow’s “systemic and escalating strikes against Ukraine’s cities, critical infrastructure and civilians” and pledged to “constrain Russia’s war chest” through sanctions and actions against the “shadow fleet”.
The coalition of the willing is a partnership of 34 countries, including Ukraine. Members met on Monday in Kyiv or by video conference, with a statement saying that “leaders once again reaffirmed their commitment to support Ukraine’s independence”.
The meeting came as the European Union said it had released €6.1 billion (£5.2 billion) in military aid for Ukraine to strengthen its air defences. The funding is part of a wider €90 billion loan from the EU to Ukraine.
The UK and Ukraine have also announced a new military technology partnership giving British experts access to Kyiv’s Avengers AI Labs database.
Downing Street said Ukraine had used sensors and cameras to capture data across the battlefield, which could be used to train AI models “to solve key national security challenges” faced by both countries.
On Monday morning, Burnham laid flowers at the graves of Ukrainian soldiers during a service at the National Military Memorial Cemetery.
He also accepted an award from Zelensky on behalf of the British people, recognising the UK’s support for Ukraine during an Independence Day event outside St Sofia Cathedral in Kyiv.
In a speech, Burnham compared Ukraine’s resistance to Russia with the UK’s fight against Nazi Germany.
“My nation kept the flame of European freedom alive in the 20th century, you hold that flame in the 21st,” he said.
In a statement issued ahead of the visit, the prime minister said: “On Ukraine’s 35th anniversary of independence, the Ukrainian people should be in no doubt: the UK is behind you today and for as long as it takes.
“I am proud of the contribution our country has made to Ukraine and I want the Ukrainian people to hear it directly from me that our support will not waver. After all, Ukraine’s security is our security.”
He said the friendship between Ukraine and the UK would “long outlast Russia’s illegal war”, adding: “Russia should be in no doubt of our resolve. We will not back down until there is a just and lasting peace.”
Moscow had earlier warned of “consequences” over the use of British drones by Ukraine as Kyiv stepped up strikes on Russian infrastructure.
Kyiv has increased long-range attacks on Moscow and other Russian regions, targeting oil refineries and warehouses belonging to the country’s largest online retailer, Wildberries.
The government is allowing UK defence company MBDA to declassify information on its components for the SCALP missile, as Ukraine and France seek to establish assembly lines in Ukraine.
SCALP missiles and the UK-produced Storm Shadow have already been supplied to Kyiv by Britain and France and used to strike military targets inside Russia.
Ukraine hopes it can also receive more Patriot interceptor missiles, with Zelensky again asking for additional supplies of the weapon, which is used to combat Russia’s ballistic missiles.
Ukraine has been relying on US supplies of Patriot systems, but its stockpiles are running low due to the war in Iran, leaving the country vulnerable to Russian attacks.
The Russian Embassy in the UK has accused Britain of “deliberately opting for an escalation of the Ukraine crisis”, saying “the deeper its involvement in the conflict… the higher the price it will pay”.
In response, Burnham said last week: “We are not fair-weather friends, we will be there in Ukraine’s hour of need and that won’t change.”
Asked on Tuesday about the Russian threat, Burnham maintained that the UK was “providing support so that Ukraine can defend itself and that’s been the British position all the way through this conflict, by previous prime ministers – it remains the case with me”.
The visit came as Russia confirmed that its ambassador to the UK, Andrei Kelin, had left his post in London in recent weeks.
The Kremlin has yet to put forward a replacement, but Russia’s Embassy in the UK told that the departure did not reflect an intention to downgrade diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Deadly exchanges between Russia and Ukraine continued overnight. Two children were killed and seven injured when Ukrainian drone debris struck a private children’s centre in Russia, local authorities said.
A warehouse belonging to online retailer Ozon was also set on fire, two days after Ukraine said it would target the company for selling dual-use items that could be used by the military.
It was the third consecutive night that Ozon warehouses had been targeted. The company confirmed on Saturday that a logistics centre in the Samara region had been hit, while a warehouse in Orenburg was targeted on Sunday.
Three people were also killed in a Russian attack on the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
