David Lammy has unveiled £600m in aid for Ukraine’s fight against “imperialism and facism” and suggested Vladimir Putin had already escalated the war.
The Foreign Secretary said the war-torn nation “is on the frontline in the fight for freedom”.
Mr Lammy said the UK would provide £600m ($780m) in aid to Ukraine to support the country’s “humanitarian, energy and stabilisation needs”.
Tehran has given Russian forces ballistic missiles, after North Korea sent weapons and ammunition to Moscow.
Britain and the US are in talks to drop a veto that would allow long-range Storm Shadow missiles to be fired deep inside Russia.
Pressed on Volodymyr Zelensky‘s call for “strong decisions” on the use of Storm Shadow missiles in Russia, the Foreign Secretary said: “We’ve had detailed conversations today with President Zelensky.
“We recognise that Ukraine is on the front line of the fight for freedom, and also that over these last few weeks, we have seen a tremendous loss of life of innocent men, women and children here in Ukraine.”
He added: “We are concerned about the attacks on Ukraine‘s energy. We are concerned about these glide bombs. We are concerned about the drones.
“We’re very concerned about the escalatory action that we’re seeing from Iran, particularly.
“We’ve looked at the breadth of things today, and as we’ve said, of course, I go back to Keir Starmer, able to assist him with some of the operational detail that we’ve learned from the Ukrainians today – you wouldn’t expect me to go into detail about that at this press conference, because I am not prepared to give Putin the advantage.
“But as the closest of allies, we look forward to discussions we will have, not just on Friday, but discussions I suspect that will go on over the next few weeks as we head also to the UN General Assembly.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Mr Lammy suggested Vladimir Putin had already escalated the war by seeking missiles from Iran.
Mr Blinken said: “Just speaking for the United States, from day one …. we have adjusted and adapted as needs have changed, as the battlefield has changed, and I have no doubt that we’ll continue to do that as this, as this evolves.”
Escalation was “one of the factors that we always consider but it’s certainly not the only factor and it’s not necessarily a dispositive factor”.
He added: “We’ve seen Russia now pursue and indeed escalate its attacks inside Ukraine, on civilians, on energy infrastructure, as well as on the Ukrainian military that’s defending its country.
“And we’ve now seen this action of Russia acquiring ballistic missiles from Iran, which will further empower their aggression in Ukraine. So if anyone is taking escalatory action, it would appear to be Mr Putin and Russia.”
Mr Lammy said: “It is Putin who has escalated this week with the shipment of ballistic missiles from Iran and we’re seeing this new axis, Russia, Iran, North Korea. We urge China not to throw their lot in with this group of renegades.”
Both men announced further financial support for Ukraine, including a £600 million package from the UK and 717 million dollars (£550 million) from the US to meet immediate humanitarian, energy and stabilisation needs.
The US package includes 325 million dollars (£250 million) to support Ukraine‘s energy needs, with Mr Blinken accusing Russia of “targeting Ukraine‘s energy and electricity systems to weaponise the cold against the Ukrainian people”.
Mr Lammy told a press conference in Kyiv: “Putin’s barbaric actions are the latest example of a very old and evil story.
“One of my ancestors was taken from their home, enslaved, chained on a ship and forced to work for the profit of a foreign empire. He knew only too well what imperialism was.
“No act of authoritarianism is ever exactly the same, but 80 years after Stalin deported the Crimean Tartars, 240 years after Catherine the Great annexed Crimea, (Vladimir) Putin has revealed the same arrogance, the same greed and the same disdain for the rights of others individuals and nations.
“This is imperialism. This is fascism.
“And this week we have been reminded of how other authoritarian regimes are aiding Putin with Iran going even further in support for Moscow by providing ballistic missiles, a significant and dangerous escalation.”
Opening the press conference, Ukraine‘s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha urged the UK and US to lift restrictions on the use of weapons against targets in Russia at a press conference alongside David Lammy and Antony Blinken.
According to a BBC interpreter he thanked the Western allies for their support but added: “The main thing is to remove all the barriers on using the US and UK weaponry against Russia.
“It will bring the just peace closer.”
President Zelensky previously called on Britain and America to make a “strong decision” by letting him use long-range missiles deep in Russian land.