Putin has escalated Ukrainian war with Iranian missiles, suggest Blinken and Lammy

Blinken and Lammy suggested Putin had already escalated the war by seeking missiles from Iran

Concern about escalation has been one of the reasons why permission has not been given to Kyiv to use western long-range weapons to strike targets inside Russia.

But Blinken said: “Just speaking for the United States, from day one …. we have adjusted and adapted As needs have changed as the battlefield has changed, and I have no doubt that we’ll continue to do that as this, as this evolves.”

Escalation was “one of the factors that we always consider but it’s certainly not the only factor and it’s not necessarily a dispositive factor”.

He added: “We’ve seen Russia now pursue and indeed escalate its attacks inside Ukraine, on civilians, on energy infrastructure, as well as on the Ukrainian military that’s defending its country.

“And we’ve now seen this action of Russia acquiring ballistic missiles from Iran, which will further empower their aggression in Ukraine. So if anyone is taking escalatory action, it would appear to be Mr Putin and Russia”

Lammy said: “It is Putin who has escalated this week with the shipment of ballistic missiles from Iran and we’re seeing this new axis, Russia, Iran, North Korea. We urge China not to throw their lot in with this group of renegades.”

Key events

Closing summary

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and the British foreign secretary, David Lammy, held a press conference in Kyiv during which they denounced Russia’s “imperialism” in Ukraine and announced almost $1.5bn in further support for Ukraine.
Lammy described Russia’s actions in Ukraine as “fascism”, comparing it to his own ancestors’ experience of being enslaved. He said: “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 … This is imperialism. This is fascism.”
Blinken said the $700m in extra aid for Ukraine was aimed at bolstering the energy grid that Russia has repeatedly pounded ahead of an expected difficult winter. The $325m in energy support in the package will help repair and restore Ukraine’s power generation facilities, provide emergency backup power and strengthen the physical security of energy infrastructure. Some $290m will fund food, water, shelter, health care and education programs for Ukrainians in need in the country and refugees outside the country. The remaining $102m will be used for mine-removal activities.
Lammy confirmed that the UK would provide another $782m in assistance and loan guarantees.
Earlier in the day the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, called for “strong decisions” to be made as he reiterated his call for permission to use long-distance missiles in Russia. Concern about escalation has been one of the reasons why permission has not been given to Kyiv to use western long-range weapons to strike targets inside Russia. But Blinken said escalation was “one of the factors that we always consider but it’s certainly not the only factor and it’s not necessarily a dispositive factor”.
Lammy said: “It is Putin who has escalated this week with the shipment of ballistic missiles from Iran and we’re seeing this new axis, Russia, Iran, North Korea. We urge China not to throw their lot in with this group of renegades.”
Three civilians were killed in Russian attacks on Kostiantynivka in eastern Ukraine.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, has said Moscow will destroy any new deliveries of long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine by the United States.
The Kremlin said today that it really did not like the way Vladimir Putin’s name was bandied around in the US presidential debate.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, pushed back against western governments’ concerns a day after the US and others said Tehran has supplied ballistic missiles to Russia. “Iran has NOT delivered ballistic missiles to Russia. Period,” he wrote.

Pressed on Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s call for “strong decisions” on the use of UK-supplied weapons in Russia, foreign secretary David Lammy said: “We’ve had detailed conversations today with president Zelensky.

“We recognise that Ukraine is on the frontline 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 added: “We are concerned about the attacks on Ukraine’s energy. We are concerned about these glide bombs. We are concerned about the drones.

“We’re very concerned about the escalatory action that we’re seeing from Iran, particularly.

“We’ve looked at the breadth of things today, and as we’ve said, of course, I go back to Keir Starmer, able to assist him with some of the operational detail that we’ve learned from the Ukrainians today – you wouldn’t expect me to go into detail about that at this press conference, because I am not prepared to give Putin the advantage.

“But as the closest of allies, we look forward to discussions we will have, not just on Friday, but discussions I suspect that will go on over the next few weeks as we head also to the UN general assembly.”

Lammy hailed what he described as a “Blitz spirit” he witnessed the last time he visited Ukraine

The foreign secretary praised “what we would call a Blitz spirit, evoking the second world war” on display during his last trip.

“It’s humbling, it’s moving to see people do all they can to prevent this Russian aggression,” he said.

Asked about Ukraine’s path to Nato, Lammy said: “Britain (is) supportive of Ukraine’s ambitions in relation to Nato and the security guarantees that they necessarily need.

“That’s why we worked very hard with our allies to get that irreversible pathway language into the text that we were able to agree back in July, just as the new Labour government came into power. And we will continue of course to discuss these things with our allies.”

He said there was a “continued need to work with Ukraine on these fundamental reform issues that make its pathway to the European Union and to Nato more achievable in the medium term”.

Blinken and Lammy suggested Putin had already escalated the war by seeking missiles from Iran

Concern about escalation has been one of the reasons why permission has not been given to Kyiv to use western long-range weapons to strike targets inside Russia.

Escalation was “one of the factors that we always consider but it’s certainly not the only factor and it’s not necessarily a dispositive factor”.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken, Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha and British foreign secretary David Lammy in Kyiv. Photograph: Alina Smutko/Reuters

Russia’s actions in Ukraine are ‘fascism’, says Lammy

Lammy described Russia’s actions in Ukraine as “imperialism” and “fascism”, comparing it to his own ancestors’ experience of being enslaved.

He told a press conference in Kyiv: “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, (Vladimir) 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.

“And this week we have been reminded of how other authoritarian regimes are aiding Putin with Iran going even further in support for Moscow by providing ballistic missiles, a significant and dangerous escalation.”

Blinken announces $700m in support for Ukraine

Antony Blinken announced more than $700 million in aid for Ukraine, aiming to bolster the energy grid that Russia has repeatedly pounded ahead of an expected difficult winter.

The $325m in energy support in the package will help repair and restore Ukraine’s power generation facilities, provide emergency backup power and strengthen the physical security of energy infrastructure.

Some $290m will fund food, water, shelter, health care and education programs for Ukrainians in need in the country and refugees outside the country. The remaining $102m will be used for mine-removal activities.

Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha urged the UK and US to lift restrictions on the use of weapons against targets in Russia at a press conference alongside David Lammy and Antony Blinken.

According to a BBC interpreter he thanked the western allies for their support but added: “The main thing is to remove all the barriers on using the US and UK weaponry against Russia.

“It will bring the just peace closer.”

Blinken and Lammy set to hold joint press conference in Kyiv

US secretary of state Antony Blinken and the British foreign secretary David Lammy are due to hold a joint press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, imminently.

We will bring you all the latest lines from that, amid the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s calls for western curbs on long-range missile strikes inside Russia to be lifted.

The Anglo-French Storm Shadow and US Atacms missiles have a range of 190 miles plus. More on that once the news conference begins.

Dan Sabbagh

Antony Blinken and David Lammy’s joint trip to Kyiv, to be followed by Keir Starmer’s trip to Washington DC to see Joe Biden on Friday, has inevitably lifted expectations that Ukraine will shortly be given permission to fire Anglo-French Storm Shadow and US Atacms missiles with their 190-mile-plus range into Russia.

There are no shortage of risks. Allowing Ukraine to fire western-made weapons deep into Russia could have a dramatic political impact on the course of a war mired in a grim, attritional slog that appears to be favouring Moscow, its forces bearing down on the strategic town of Pokrovsk.

Blinken and Lammy provided a potential justification for the missile escalation on Tuesday, calling out Iran for supplying a first batch of short-range, high-speed Fath-360 ballistic missiles to Russia, a step up from the slower Shahed drones it had given Moscow until now. Russia was likely to use the missiles “within weeks”, Blinken warned.

The Fath-360 missiles have a range of about 75 miles, according to the US. They could be used to strike Ukrainian cities close to the frontline such as Kharkiv or Zaporizhzhia; Sloviansk and Kramatorsk in the Donbas, and even theoretically Kyiv, and allow Russian to use its own stock of longer-range cruise and ballistic missiles to attack targets elsewhere in Ukraine, as it has done relentlessly throughout the war.

The missile war in Ukraine may appear unceasing but it follows its own logic of inventories, with Russia’s goal being to exhaust Ukraine’s air defences. Kyiv has already run out of short-range Buk and S-300 systems, which left its power stations defenceless earlier this year. Ukrainian sources estimate that about two-thirds of its energy generation has been destroyed, and it will not be possible to repair more than a tiny fraction before what is likely to be the country’s hardest winter since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion.

Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Moscow should consider limiting exports of uranium, titanium and nickel in retaliation against the West.

In televised comments to government ministers, he said such restrictions could also be introduced for other commodities, and noted that Russia was a major producer of natural gas, diamonds and gold, Reuters reported.

But he said that measures did not need to be taken “tomorrow”, and must not cause damage to Russia itself.

“Please take a look at some of the types of goods that we supply to the world market … maybe we should think about certain restrictions – uranium, titanium, nickel,” Putin told prime minister Mikhail Mishustin.

“We just mustn’t do anything to harm ourselves,” he added.

Russia is the world’s fourth largest uranium producer, according to the World Nuclear Association’s data.

An air raid siren could be heard across the centre of Kyiv just moments before the British foreign secretary was due to appear at his next location.

A nearby local photographer told the press pack: “I’ve heard it many times. I hear it every day.”

People continued to go about their daily lives until the siren stopped a couple of minutes later, PA Media reported.

Summary of the day thus far

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and the British foreign secretary, David Lammy, have arrived in Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian leaders.
“We must stand up to Vladimir Putin’s imperialism,” Lammy said in a social media post. “Our collective security depends on it,” he added.
During the visit, Lammy said the west is “listening carefully” to Ukraine’s needs.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, called for “strong decisions” to be made as he reiterated his call for permission to use long-distance missiles in Russia.
Three civilians were killed in Russian attacks on Kostiantynivka in eastern Ukraine.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, has said Moscow will destroy any new deliveries of long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine by the United States.
The Kremlin said today that it really did not like the way Vladimir Putin’s name was bandied around in the U.S. presidential debate.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, pushed back against western governments’ concerns a day after the US and others said Tehran has supplied ballistic missiles to Russia. “Iran has NOT delivered ballistic missiles to Russia. Period,” he wrote.

Speaking at the 4th Crimea Platform, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said today:

In Crimea – and in all of Ukraine – Ukrainians fight for the inalienable right of people to choose their own future, and to have their human rights respected. They fight for the right of nations to have their sovereignty, their territorial integrity, their independence respected – principles at the very heart of the United Nations Charter.

And when the United States and so many other partners stand with Ukraine, we not only help affirm those rights for Ukrainians, we help affirm them for all nations – and for all people.

That’s why we are proud to join Ukraine in reaffirming, today and every day: Crimea is Ukraine.

David Lammy also said the west is “listening carefully” to Ukraine’s needs, the PA news agency reported.

Lammy said he and his American counterpart, Antony Blinken, were to “listen to Ukraine, to speak to President Zelenskiy, to hear and understand the strategy”.

When asked if the UK would allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles against targets in Russia, 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.

Lammy pledges £600m in Ukraine support from UK

David Lammy, the British foreign secretary, has announced more than 600 million pounds of support for Ukraine, Reuters reported.

The UK is set to provide 242 million pounds of funding and 484 million pounds in loan guarantees.

The UK government is set to provide hundreds of additional air defence missiles, tens of thousands of additional artillery ammunition rounds and more armoured vehicles, to be delivered to Ukraine by the end of the year.