Lammy says West ‘listening carefully’ to Ukraine over long-range missile needs
Kyiv wants to use the missiles to hit targets in Russia.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the West is “listening carefully” to Ukraine’s needs amid calls to allow Kyiv to use long-range missiles in Russia.
Mr Lammy and his US counterpart Antony Blinken are on a joint visit to the Ukrainian capital to show support for Kyiv.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly pushed for permission to use Western missiles to strike at targets within Vladimir Putin’s Russia, and US President Joe Biden and Sir Keir Starmer are set to discuss the issue in Washington on Friday.
Speaking to reporters in the Ukrainian capital, Mr Lammy said he and his US counterpart Mr Blinken were to “listen to Ukraine, to speak to President Zelensky, to hear and understand the strategy”.
When asked if the UK would allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles against targets in Russia, Mr Lammy said: “We’re here to listen, to understand the plan, to understand the strategy and understand the needs across a whole range of fronts.
“Yes, of course, equipment but of course energy that has been sabotaged, the support that’s needed on the humanitarian front over these next few months and how we continue to mobilise the international community on Ukraine’s behalf.
“So we are listening carefully and, of course, we are having discussions on a range of issues including the military equipment that Ukraine needs to win.”
He added: “We’re seeing Russia amplify its work with its friends and we’ve seen this horrendous transfer of ballistic missiles from Iran to Russia over the last few days.
“We’ve sanctioned further the Russian Shadow Fleet today and my colleague John Healey has announced more ammunition, more armoured vehicles, more support to Ukraine’s victory effort at this time. We’re here to listen.
“That’s why I’m here with Tony Blinken, a US Secretary of State, a UK Foreign Secretary travelling together.
“We haven’t seen that for well over a decade in our system.
“Travelling here to listen to Ukraine, to speak to President Zelensky, to hear and understand the strategy because we are determined to see Ukraine win in their efforts over the coming months and over this period.”
Mr Lammy and Mr Blinken took an overnight train from eastern Poland and reached the Ukrainian capital at 11.45am local time.
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 hailed the Kyiv trip as “the first of its kind in a decade” at a press conference alongside his US counterpart on Tuesday, while Mr Blinken said: “One of the purposes of the trip we will be taking together is to hear directly from the Ukrainian leadership including … President Zelensky about exactly how the Ukrainians see their needs in this moment, toward what objectives and what we can do to support those needs.
“All I can tell you is we will be listening intently to our Ukrainian partners, we will both be reporting back to the Prime Minister, to President Biden in the coming days, and I fully anticipate this is something they will take up when they meet on Friday.”
