Speaking at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Keir Starmer refused to say whether Ukraine would be granted permission to fire Storm Shadow missiles into Russian territory
Starmer says we must ‘double down’ on supporting Ukraine
Keir Starmer has refused to say whether Ukraine will be allowed to fire British-supplied long range missiles into Russian territory.
The PM said supporting the war-torn nation is his “number one” priority as world leaders converge on the G20 summit in Brazil. But he faces mounting pressure to clarify whether his Government will allow the 190-mile Storm Shadow warheads to be fired into Russia.
It comes after US President Joe Biden gave President Volodymyr Zelensky the green light to use some US-made weapons- an act the Kremlin has branded “reckless” and “dangerous”.
Asked whether allowing Ukraine to fire missiles into Russia would escalate the risk of World War Three, the PM said: “We have to support Ukraine in this, this is about sovereignty of Ukraine, but it’s also about our own freedoms.
“That’s why for 1,000 days we’ve stood with Ukraine and we’ll continue to do so. Number one issue here at the G20 is to make sure we absolutely double down on support for Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
But he said he is “not going to get into operational details” about what weapons Mr Zelensky will have at his disposal. “The only winner, if we were to do that, is (Vladimir) Putin,” he said.
Delivering a firm message to Russia, which is also attending the G20, Mr Starmer said Putin cannot be allowed to win. Tuesday marks 1,000 days since the start of the blood-soaked despot’s invasion.
The PM added: “I’ve been really clear for a long time now we need to double down. We need to make sure Ukraine has what is necessary for as long as necessary, because we cannot allow Putin to win this war.”
Asked if he had spoken to Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, he said: “I haven’t spoken to Russia and I’ve got no plans to do so.”
Mr Lavrov is attending the summit in Brazil as Mr Putin faces arrest charged with war crimes. The Russian President’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, hit back at Mr Biden’s surprise decision to allow the weapons’ use.
He said: “This decision is reckless, dangerous, aimed at a qualitative change, a qualitative increase in the level of involvement of the United States.” A No10 spokeswoman earleir said the Government wanted to put Ukraine in the “strongest possible position going into the winter to defend its sovereign territory”.
They also suggested publicly announcing a change in the UK’s position “would only serve to benefit Putin during an ongoing illegal war”. Ex-Tory Defence Secretary Ben Wallace also said allowing Kyiv to use the weapons would show the West “won’t be bullied by Putin’s threats of escalation”.