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Ukraine urges UK and US to allow them to fire long-range missiles into 'enemy' Russia


Ukraine’s Prime Minister has urged the Foreign Secretary to let Ukrainian soldiers fire long-range missiles into Russia.

Denys Shmyhal made the plea ahead of a meeting with David Lammy yesterday, who visited Kyiv with his US counterpart Antony Blinken.

Speaking at the start of a meeting with Mr Lammy, Ukraine’s Prime Minister asked the UK for “help and support” in using long-range missiles to strike Russian territory.

Mr Shmyhal said: “We hope that long-range equipment for strikes on the territory of our enemy will be reached and we will have it. And we hope for your help and support in this issue.”

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly pushed for permission to use Western missiles to strike at targets within Vladimir Putin’s Russia. US President Joe Biden and Sir Keir Starmer are set to discuss the issue in Washington on Friday.

Moscow has warned that Russia will destroy any new deliveries of long-range Atacms to Ukraine by the United States.

Sergei Ryabkov warned the US of the “the dangers and risks” of sending Kyiv long-range missiles as Joe Biden considers whether to lift restrictions on the weapons being used to strike targets inside Russia.

Mr Blinken travelled from London, where he accused Iran of providing Russia with Fath-360 short-range ballistic missiles, calling the move a “dramatic escalation” of the war.

Mr Lammy arrived in Kyiv today with Mr Blinken after the pair hosted a joint press conference in London on Tuesday, in which they said the war in Ukraine had reached a “critical moment”.

Their visit comes at a time when Russian forces are continuing to make significant advances in the east of Ukraine as they march towards Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub in the Donetsk region.

Mr Lammy hailed the Kyiv trip as “the first of its kind in a decade” at the press conference before the visit.

Asked whether Ukraine would be given permission to use UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles in Russia, Mr Lammy said on Tuesday: “It’s hugely important that we’re travelling together to hear from our Ukrainian counterparts and President Zelensky their assessment of the situation on the ground and their needs on the ground.

“It would, however, be quite wrong to comment on the detail of operational issues in a forum such as 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 announced sanctions on 10 ships operating as part of a “shadow fleet” seeking to evade the embargo on Russian oil.

The vessels, described as “high-volume offenders”, will now be barred from entering UK ports and refused access to the UK Ship Register.

Mr Lammy said: “Russia has been forced to spend over $8billion (£6billion) amassing this shadow fleet. But with sanctioned tankers loitering and unable to load oil, we are determined to make Putin’s investment an expensive misstep for the Kremlin.”

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