Russia threatens UK military targets as Kremlin says Britain 'playing with fire’ over Ukraine support

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called on Britain to back off what she called London's hostile stance on Ukraine, which she said risked taking the conflict to an entirely new level.

She had told the same Moscow news briefing earlier that Britain and France were "playing with fire" by supplying sensitive missile technology to Ukraine.

Zakharova told the press conference: "London & Paris are trying to dodge responsibility for deep strikes into Russia by shifting the “assembly” role to Ukraine.

"They should understand this is playing with fire & that the consequences could be unpredictable – including for them."

Read more: CIA director visited Russia to urge Moscow to not attack NATO

Read more: Germany could 'help fund Trident' in bid to end Europe’s reliance on US

The UK has agreed to declassify blueprints for British-made components for the Scalp missile, a French-produced version of the Storm Shadow that has already been used to hit targets in Russia.

France has already given its assent to license the technology for the European missile.

The decision to declassify the blueprints has drawn strong condemnation from Russia, with Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying it would add “fuel to the fire” of the conflict.

But Prime Minister Andy Burnham hit back in comments to reporters in Kyiv, saying: “Who started the fire? That’s the question, isn’t it.”

Asked if Britons should be worried that the talks herald the possibility of attacks by the Russians on the UK, Mr Burnham said: “It’s a challenging situation when we look around the world right now.

“But from what we’re doing, people need to be sure of this: We’re doing what we’ve done since the start of this conflict, which is to provide that back-up support to Ukraine to be able to defend themselves, because they do need to do that.

“They are obviously in an impossible situation, so challenging, but Britain needs to be there and be a constant as they go through this illegal invasion that they’re facing.

“So, we will continue to do that. Prime ministers before me gave that assurance and I visited Ukraine to send a really clear message to the Ukrainian people that Britain isn’t changing course. We said we would support them. We are supporting them, and that won’t change.”

The Prime Minister on Monday travelled to Kyiv, his first visit to Ukraine since coming to office.

During a meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Mr Burnham reiterated there would be “no change in the UK’s steadfast support” for Kyiv.

He also urged Ukraine’s allies to send more interceptor missiles to Kyiv, and co-chaired his first coalition of the willing meeting, where he said the group was doing “everything we can” to “dig into our own stocks and help others dig into their stocks”.

It comes as CIA chief John Ratcliffe made his first known visit to Moscow for talks with Russian officials on Tuesday.

One of the last known times a CIA chief travelled to Russia was when Mr Ratcliffe’s predecessor William Burns held talks in the months ahead of the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The visit has sparked widespread speculation that it could be pre-empting new military action by Putin.

The Wall Street Journal, citing officials familiar with the visit, reported that he had visited to dissuade the Kremlin from attacking a NATO country.

It added that US intelligence believes that Putin is considering testing the resolve of NATO with a limited assault which could include a cyberattack or a small-scale land invasion.

The attack, it warns, would be on a Baltic country.

Chairing his first meeting of the so-called “coalition of the willing”, the Prime Minister said the group was doing “everything we can” to “dig into our own stocks and help others dig into their stocks”.

Mr Zelenskyy has repeatedly pleaded for more US-made Patriot interceptor missiles in recent months as Kyiv’s stocks have diminished.

Supplies of Patriots have been diverted to the Middle East since the outbreak of war with Iran, with Ukraine receiving significantly fewer missiles this year than in previous years.

Speaking later on Monday, Mr Zelenskyy welcomed the talks between the coalition of the willing but said “now, we have to deal with a funding gap”, including the option of bringing forward part of the European loan to Ukraine, or unlocking frozen Russian assets.

“The total gap is 27 billion,” he said in a post on X.

“One of the main options is to bring forward part of the European loan funding this year. But we should not give up on other ideas for how to ensure fair protection in this war – a war that Russia started and continues to prolong.”

Russia has sought to capitalise on the shortage by stepping up its ballistic missile strikes, killing at least 23 people and wounding more than 100 in the past three days alone.

At a meeting of the coalition of the willing in Kyiv on Monday, Mr Burnham said the group was “working with our allies outside of this coalition” to resolve the issue, arguing Ukraine “needs more help to protect its people right now”.

He also called on the US to “ratchet up” economic pressure on Russia, arguing Moscow’s economy was struggling under a record budget deficit and declining oil revenues and urging American legislators to impose further sanctions.

LBC has contacted the Ministry of Defence for comment.