Storm in the air?
Ukraine in plea to use British missiles for attacks on Russia
UKRAINIAN President Volodymyr Zelensky last night pleaded with the UK and US to be allowed to launch British missiles into Russia.
Putin’s barbaric actions are the latest example of a very old and a very evil story
DAVID LAMMY THE BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY CONDEMNS RUSSIAN CHIEF
The leader held crunch talks with Foreign Secretary David Lammy and his US counterpart Antony Blinken in Kyiv.
Mr Zelensky wants to use Storm Shadow missiles, supplied by
Britain, to strike targets in Russian territory.
Mr Lammy said: “We recognise that Ukraine is on the front line of the fight for freedom, and also that over these last few weeks, we have seen a tremendous loss of life of innocent men, women and children here in Ukraine.”
He said he would report back to PM Keir Starmer about the “operational detail” he had received.
Mr Lammy refused to be drawn on whether the UK would grant Mr Zelensky’s missile request, saying such a move would give Russian leader Vladimir Putin “the advantage”.
He described Russia’s assault on
Ukraine as “imperialism” and “fascism”, and compared it to his own ancestors’ experience of slavery.
The Foreign Secretary told a press conference in the Ukrainian capital: “Putin’s barbaric actions are the latest example of a very old and evil story. “One of my ancestors was taken from their home, enslaved, chained on a ship and forced to work for the profit of a foreign empire. He knew only too well what imperialism was.
“No act of authoritarianism is ever exactly the same but 80 years after Stalin deported the Crimean Tartars, 240 years after Catherine the Great annexed Crimea, Putin has revealed the same arrogance, the same greed and the same disdain for the rights of others individuals and nations.
“This is imperialism. This is fascism.”