UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has vowed to continue Britain’s military support for Ukraine despite what he described as Russia’s “outrageous threats.”
Burnham made the remarks on Monday during a visit to Kyiv for Ukraine’s Independence Day commemorations and ahead of a meeting with the country’s international backers.
“Despite Russia’s outrageous threats to my country, we will continue our support for Ukraine’s defence,” Burnham said.
His comments came after the Kremlin accused Britain of undermining efforts to end the war by providing Ukraine with information needed to manufacture SCALP long-range missiles.
The British government said it would authorise defence firm MBDA to release information on UK-made components used in the Franco-British missile, allowing Kyiv to produce the weapons domestically.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov condemned the move, accusing Britain of escalating the conflict.
“Britain is methodically and regularly throwing oil on the fire and methodically and regularly plotting schemes to prevent even the slightest progress in the peace process,” Peskov told reporters.
He said Russian forces were gathering intelligence on facilities involved in the production of missiles and other military equipment.
“Our armed forces are carrying out work accordingly, gathering the relevant intelligence to identify the production sites of such missiles and other military equipment, and taking measures to destroy these facilities,” Peskov said.
The SCALP is a long-range cruise missile capable of striking targets about 250 kilometres, or around 150 miles, away.
Britain and France have supplied the missiles to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, but Kyiv has yet to begin domestic production.
Burnham, however, insisted that Britain would not be deterred by Moscow’s threats and would continue backing Ukraine’s defence efforts.
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