Ahead of the winter, British Foreign Minister David Lammy stated on Tuesday that his goal was to place Ukraine in the “strongest position” possible in its conflict with Russia.
While denying that London would permit Ukraine to launch an internal attack within Russia using British long-range precision weaponry, Lammy claimed that Iran’s transfer of ballistic missiles to Moscow constituted “a major escalation.”
For several months, Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, has been requesting authorization to launch US-made ATACMS missiles and British Storm Shadow missiles against targets located farther within 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.
Meetings with Biden, Starmer, and other individuals are scheduled for this week, “as we seek to conclude those discussions to put him in the strongest position.”
Putin has threatened to declare war on Moscow if NATO countries approve the use of the weapons against targets within Russia.
Following an ardent address to the UN Security Council in which he lambasted Russia, saying that Moscow “claims to stand for the Global South,” Lammy made his remarks. However, it disregards international law with impunity.”
“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.
