The Kremlin today called David Cameron’s statement that Ukraine could use British weapons against targets in Russia a “direct escalation” of the conflict.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary on Thursday promised £3 billion in annual military aid to Ukraine “for as long as it takes”.
Announcing the aid, Lord Cameron – who is in Kiev today – added that London has no objection to the weapons being used in Russia by Ukrainian forces.
Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov angrily hit back at the senior conservative and former prime minister, describing the comments as “dangerous” and “escalatory.”
They could endanger the entire system of Europe’s security architecture, he said, while also denouncing French President Emmanuel Macron’s reiteration on Thursday that the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine should not be ruled out.
The Kremlin has cited David Cameron’s statement that Ukraine could use British weapons against targets in Russia if it wanted a “direct escalation” of the conflict. Pictured: Lord Cameron shakes hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev today
Moscow has reacted angrily to Macron’s earlier suggestions that the West could deploy troops to support Kiev, calling it evidence of NATO’s direct involvement in the conflict and its hostile and aggressive attitude towards Russia.
“(Macron’s) statement is very important and very dangerous,” Peskov told reporters on Friday.
Macron ‘continues to talk about the possibility of direct involvement on the ground in the conflict surrounding Ukraine. This is a very dangerous trend,” he added.
Peskov said the recent statements by Macron and Cameron “potentially pose a danger to European security, to the entire European security architecture.”
‘We see a dangerous tendency to escalate in official statements. This is of concern to us,” he added.
Kiev has hit a number of energy sites in Russia in recent months, deploying drones packed with explosives to attack oil refineries and depots hundreds of miles behind the front lines.
Ukraine says the hits are justified retaliation for the attacks in Moscow and target a source of fuel and revenue for the Russian military.
In an interview with Reuters during his visit to Kiev, Cameron said: ‘We will give £3 billion every year for as long as it takes. We really pulled out all the stops in terms of providing equipment.”
He said the British donation of military equipment would include the supply of precision bombs and air defense missiles and equipment for 100 mobile air defense teams to enable Ukraine to shoot down Russian drones and missiles.
He added that the aid package was the largest yet from Britain. “Some of that equipment is arriving in Ukraine today while I am here,” he said.
Cameron said Ukraine has the right to use weapons supplied by London to attack targets in Russia, and that it is up to Kiev to do so.
‘Ukraine has that right. Just as Russia is striking inside Ukraine, you can well understand why Ukraine feels the need to ensure it defends itself,” Cameron told Reuters outside St Michael’s Cathedral.
Cameron, who led Britain as prime minister from 2010 to 2016 and only returned to frontline politics a few months ago, met Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during his second visit to Kiev as foreign minister.
Britain’s top diplomat also celebrated the release of a long-delayed $60 billion aid package by the US Congress.
“It is absolutely crucial, not only in terms of the weapons it will provide, but also in terms of the morale boost it will give to the people here in Ukraine,” he said.
A photo made available by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service shows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky holding a meeting with British Foreign Minister David Cameron (right) in Kiev today.
Some of that aid appeared to have already been deployed this week, with images of a suspected long-range missile attack on Russian forces appearing online.
Analysts said the attack was carried out by an American-made ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) and killed more than 100 Russian soldiers at a training ground.
Such long-range weapons will allow Ukrainian forces to strike deep into Russian-occupied territory, as well as deep into Russia itself.
Kiev has long called for such weapons to be sent to Ukraine by the US, Britain and other Western allies so that the country can strike key military targets that would otherwise be out of reach, forcing Russia to further reduce its own equipment pulling the front line.
Since Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2024, Russia has often attacked the West for its support for Kiev.
In March this year, Russia said it considers itself at war as a result of the West’s intervention on Ukraine’s side, marking a notable shift in its language around the conflict.
Analysts suggested this was to prepare the Russian public for a longer and tougher battle than it had initially expected, when Moscow believed it could capture Kiev and overthrow Zelensky’s government within days.
In another sign that the Kremlin is taking steps to convey to the public that it is at war with the West, Western tanks and military equipment captured by Russian forces in Ukraine went on display at an exhibition in Moscow on Wednesday which, according to the Russian military, Western aid would not prevent the country from winning the war.
Long lines of people waited at the entrance to the exhibition, titled “Trophies of the Russian Army,” held outside a museum celebrating the 1945 Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.
“History is repeating itself,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement, adding that the Soviet Union also had on display captured tanks and equipment in 1943, in this case from the German army.
People visit an exhibition of Western military equipment captured by Russian forces in Ukraine, displayed at the World War II memorial complex on Poklonnya Hill in western Moscow, May 1
‘Power is in the truth. That has always been the case. In 1943 and today. These war trophies reflect our strength.
“The more of them there are, the stronger we are,” the ministry said, predicting a Russian victory in what it officially calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
“No amount of Western military equipment will change the situation on the battlefield,” it added.
According to Western and Ukrainian critics, much of Russia’s military equipment is old or outdated, and Russia’s gains on the battlefield are due to massive casualties and casualties. Both sides keep the number of dead and wounded secret, but it is known that they suffered heavy casualties.