London downplays Russian threats after delivery of long-range missiles to Ukraine

British Foreign Minister David Lammy called Sunday a “smoke and mirrors” and of “fanfare” Russia’s warning to the West about the possibility of allowing kyiv to use long-range missiles.

Tensions over the sensitive issue reached a boiling point this week when US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussed the possibility at the White House.

In response, Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that if the West allowed Ukraine to strike Russian territory with longer-range missiles, it would mean that “NATO countries are at war with Russia”.

Asked by the BBC on Sunday morning, David Lammy indicated that discussions on this subject were continuing with the United States and allies.

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Asked whether he thinks Vladimir Putin is lying when he puts the threat of nuclear war on the table, he replied: “I think what Putin is doing is smoke and mirrors. It’s bluster. It’s his modus operandi.”.

“He threatens on tanks, he threatens on missiles, and he threatens on nuclear weapons. We cannot allow ourselves to be deflected from our course.”he continued, calling the Russian president a “imperialist fascist”. “If we let him do this with Ukraine, believe me, he will not stop there.”he assured.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is demanding that his allies be able to strike deep into Russian soil at military targets deemed to be “legitimate”like air bases from which planes take off to bomb Ukraine.

So far, the West, led by the Americans, has held back, fearing that such a decision could be seen by Russia as an escalation.