UK and France Vow to ‘Do Everything Necessary’ to Help Ukraine, Says Foreign Secretary

Foreign Secretary David Lammy at a press conference during a visit with U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, to Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sept. 11, 2024. Leon Neal/PA Wire

The UK and France will “do everything that is necessary” to support Ukraine in its war with Russia, the foreign secretary has said.

In the week marking the 1,000th day since Russia invaded eastern Ukraine, Foreign Secretary David Lammy and France’s Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot penned a joint letter published in the i newspaper on Thursday, where they vowed to fight the “Putinisation” of the world.

Lammy and Barrot wrote that since the conflict began in February 2022, “not only did Vladimir Putin accelerate the largest war on the European continent since the Second World War, he also sought to rewrite the international order.”

The ministers continued: “The annihilation of the global architecture that has been the cornerstone of international peace and security for generations. All to justify his illegal and intolerable aggression against a sovereign European country.

“The UK and France will not let him do so. Together with our allies, we will do everything that is necessary to put Ukraine in the best position to achieve a just and lasting peace.”

Storm Shadow Missiles

The letter pledging support follows unconfirmed reports that Ukraine had fired British Storm Shadow missiles and U.S.-made long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) into Russian territory this week.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had been pressuring the United States and UK to lift restrictions on using long-range Western weaponry against Russian targets, a request that NATO leaders had been reluctant to grant over concerns it could escalate tensions between the bloc and Russia.

Downing Street has repeatedly declined to confirm or deny the use of British armaments against Russia.

Appearing before the Defence Select Committee on Thursday, Defence Secretary John Healey would also not comment on the reports.

Healey told Committee Chairman Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: “I won’t be drawn on the operational details of the conflict. It risks both operational security and in the end, the only one that benefits from such a public debate is [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin.”

At the same time, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer vowed to “double down in our support” for Ukraine.

Starmer told the House of Commons, “We have consistently said we will do what it takes to support Ukraine and put it in the best possible position going into the winter.”

On Thursday, Russia’s Ministry of Defence claimed that its forces had shot down two Storm Shadow cruise missiles and six U.S.-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) fired into its territory from Ukraine.

Missile Exchange

Also on Thursday, Putin said Russia had tested a new intermediate-range ballistic missile, firing it at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.

Starmer’s official spokesman said, “My understanding is that it is the first time that Russia has used a ballistic missile in Ukraine with a range of several thousand kilometres.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin points during a meeting with foreign policy experts at a forum in Sochi, Russia, on Nov. 7, 2024. Maxim Shipenkov/Pool Photo via AP

Putin said the test was in response to Ukrainian strikes on Russia with British and U.S. missiles.

The Russian president said in a televised address, “In response to the use of American and British long-range weapons on November 21 of this year, the Russian armed forces launched a combined strike on one of the facilities of the Ukrainian defence industry.”

He continued, “One of the newest Russian medium-range missile systems was tested in combat conditions, in this case, with a ballistic missile in a non-nuclear hypersonic warhead.”

“We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against military facilities of those countries that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities,” he added.

Putin had said in September that allowing long-range strikes with Western weapons “would mean that NATO countries, the United States, and European countries are at war with Russia … if this is so, then, bearing in mind the change in the very essence of this conflict, we will make appropriate decisions based on the threats that will be created for us.”

Zelenskyy Calls for Response

Zelenskyy called the incident “a clear and severe escalation in the scale and brutality of this war” and pressured allies to intervene.

The Ukrainian president wrote on social media platform X: “The world must respond. Right now, there is no strong reaction from the world. Putin is very sensitive to this. He is testing you, dear partners.”

“Putin must feel the cost of his deranged ambitions. Response is needed. Pressure is needed. Russia must be forced into real peace, which can only be achieved through strength,” he said.

The escalation in tensions comes just two months before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House. His administration has said it will seek to deescalate—if not end—the war.

PA Media contributed to this report.