Russia vows to retaliate if UK allows Kyiv to strike its territory with Storm Shadow missiles after Starmer insisted 'it is for Ukraine to decide' how to use the long-range weapons
Moscow issued a warning to new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer today as Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there would be a response if the UK allowed Ukraine to strike Russia with British weapons.
The comments came after Sir Keir told reporters yesterday en route to Washington for NATO's 75th-anniversary summit that decisions on the use of UK-supplied long-range Storm Shadow missiles were for the Ukrainian armed forces to make.
Storm Shadow missiles, accurate to beyond 150 miles, have already been used by Ukraine to hit targets in Russian-occupied territory to great effect.
But Sir Keir said yesterday that UK military aid was 'for defensive purposes but it is for Ukraine to decide how to deploy it for those defensive purposes', indicating that Kyiv could now use the missiles to strike targets on Russian soil in the face of ongoing attacks.
Peskov said such a move would be an 'absolutely irresponsible step towards escalating tensions', adding the Kremlin would 'carefully record all of this and of course take appropriate measures'.
MailOnline has contacted the MoD for comment.
The thinly veiled threat from Vladimir Putin's spokesman came as Britain's armed forces minister said the Government will aim to complete its strategic defence review in less than a year, amid warnings from former military chiefs that Britain is unprepared for the threat of war.
Luke Pollard said Britain's armed forces had faced 14 years of 'hollowing out and underfunding' under the Conservatives, leading to 'reduced capabilities'.
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