UK foreign minister Lammy seeks ‘strongest position’ for Ukraine

Copyright AFP TIMOTHY A. CLARY

Gregory WALTON

British foreign minister David Lammy said Tuesday he was working to put Ukraine in the “strongest position” in its war with Russia ahead of the winter months. 

Lammy refused to confirm if London would allow Ukraine to use British long-range precision weaponry to strike inside Russia, but said that Iran’s supply of ballistic missiles to Moscow had been “a major escalation.” 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been asking for months for permission to use British Storm Shadow missiles and US-made ATACMS missiles to hit targets deeper inside Russia.

US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delayed a decision on the move during a meeting on September 13.

Lammy, in New York for the UN General Assembly, said he did not wish to give Russian President Vladimir Putin “any operational advantage.”

“But the most important thing is to put Ukraine in the strongest position” as winter approaches, Lammy told AFP. 

Zelensky will meet this week with Biden, Starmer and others “as we seek to conclude those discussions to put him in the strongest position.”

Putin has warned that approving use of the weapons on targets inside Russia would put NATO nations at war with Moscow.

Lammy’s comments came after an impassioned speech to the UN Security Council in which he attacked Russia, saying Moscow “claims to stand for the Global South. But it runs roughshod over international law.”

“Vladimir Putin, when you fire missiles into Ukraine hospitals. We know who you are,” he said.

Lammy also sounded the alarm over the escalating violence in Lebanon as Israel conducts deadly strikes on targets in the country.

“I am very worried about the risk of escalation, and this breaking into a wider regional conflict,” he said as Britain announced it was deploying military units to Cyprus to assist with any evacuation of its citizens from Lebanon.

On the sidelines of the UN’s flagship annual gathering, Lammy attended an environment event at Central Park Zoo ahead of the UN Biodiversity Conference in Colombia later this year.

“This is the moment to step up in relation to the climate emergency. It was a huge mistake of (the last British government) not to come to climate week here at the UN last year,” Lammy said.

“We are determined to get back UK leadership, not just on our own behalf, but on behalf of the planet.”

Britain recently announced the creation of a new “clean power alliance” to bridge the energy transition gap between developed and developing countries.