Ignore ‘fascist’ Putin’s nuclear threat over Storm Shadow deployment, says Lammy
David Lammy has called Vladimir Putin a “fascist” and said that the West must ignore his threats to use nuclear weapons.
The Foreign Secretary said the West should not be bullied by Putin’s threat of all-out war with Nato if Ukraine was given permission to use Western weapons to strike inside Russia.
The comments are likely to put further pressure on the US, which is understood to be holding up a change in policy to allow long-range missiles into Russian territory.
Joe Biden, the US president, has signalled there would be no decision on allowing Ukraine to fire Western-made missiles into Russia until he met with Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian leader, at the end of the month.
Russian president Mr Putin warned last week that allowing long-range strikes “would mean that Nato countries, the United States, and European countries are at war with Russia”.
Speaking to Sky News on Sunday, Mr Lammy said there was “a lot of bluster” from Mr Putin but “we cannot be blown off course by an imperialist fascist” who “wants to move into countries willy-nilly”.
He said: “Putin said, ‘Don’t send tanks.’ We sent them.
“Putin said, ‘Don’t send any missiles.’ We sent them.
“Putin threatens every few months to use nuclear weapons.
“What he should now do is cease his aggression and leave Ukraine.”
Ukraine and Britain have been urging the US president to give the green light for the weapons to be used to strike airfields and other strategically important military targets.
But, asked about the timing of any decision at a security conference in Kyiv, Jake Sullivan, the US national security adviser, said: “This is something that I think is the subject of intense consultation among allies and partners, and will be discussed between President Biden and President Zelensky.”
Mr Zelensky is due to meet Mr Biden in late September in New York at a UN General Assembly meeting.
On Sunday he again urged Western backers to approve changes to missile policy.
He said: “The fear of making strong, objectively necessary decisions must be overcome. Only decisiveness can bring a just end to this war. It is decisiveness that most effectively protects against terror.”
On Friday, Sir Keir Starmer travelled to the White House and discussed the issue with Mr Biden.
The US is concerned that giving Ukraine permission to fire Western missiles at Russia will escalate the conflict and the meeting ended without a decision.
Mr Sullivan told the annual Yalta European Strategy conference via video link that a decision on changing the terms of use for Western-made missiles would be made in the context of a wider “plan to win the war” that Mr Zelensky intends to present to Mr Biden in New York.
He said: “I do believe that we need a comprehensive strategy for winning this war, and that’s what President Zelensky says he’s going to bring, so we’re looking forward to sitting down and talking to him about that.”
Five former British defence ministers and a former prime minister have now urged Sir Keir to unilaterally allow Ukraine to fire British-made Storm Shadow long-distance missiles at Russia rather than wait for Mr Biden to make a decision.
Grant Shapps, Ben Wallace, Gavin Williamson, Penny Mordaunt, Liam Fox and Boris Johnson have said that any more delays will “play into Russia’s hands”.
Mr Sullivan has been a high-profile spokesman and security adviser for the US throughout the war but his more cautious approach over authorising Western missiles to be fired at Russia has reportedly caused a split with the more hawkish Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state.
Storm Shadow missiles, which have a range of about 150 miles, have been credited with turning the tide of the war by allowing Kyiv to hit Russian command centres and supply depots in occupied Ukraine deep behind the frontlines.
Military supplies from the US have been vital for Ukraine’s war effort but some arms shipments have been delayed over the past month, delays that Mr Sullivan blamed on “difficult and complex logistic issues”.
He said: “This is not a question of political will. But given what Ukraine is up against, we need to do more and do it better.”
Mr Zelensky has increased his criticism of these slow military aid deliveries from Ukraine’s Nato allies and on Saturday he said that “every delay in military aid packages has consequences on the front”.
On the front lines, Russian military bloggers reported that Russia has now launched a major counterattack against Ukraine’s incursion into its southern Kursk region.
According to the Two Majors channel, the Russian attack has “reduced the enemy’s control zone with a decisive onslaught” although this has been denied by Ukraine.
The British Ministry of Defence confirmed that Russian forces were trying to push back the Ukrainian invasion and had recaptured some ground in the Kursk region.
It said: “Spearheaded by Airborne and Naval Infantry United, Russian forces have attacked Ukrainian positions in the west of the salient and have highly likely retaken several villages.”
To the south-east, reports said that Russian forces were also making slow progress towards the strategically important town of Pokrovsk on the front line running through Donbas.
Russian military bloggers reported that Russian forces were trying to trap Ukrainian forces in a pocket.
