Lord Cameron on Friday backed Ukrainian strikes against targets inside Russia using British-supplied weapons.
The Foreign Secretary said it was a decision for Ukraine how to use the equipment and Kyiv “absolutely has the right” to strike back at Russia. The UK has supplied billions of pounds-worth of arms including long-range Storm Shadow missiles to Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces.
On a visit to Kyiv, Lord Cameron said: “In terms of what the Ukrainians do, in our view, it is their decision about how to use these weapons.
“They’re defending their country, they were illegally invaded by [Vladimir] Putin and they must take those steps... Let’s be absolutely clear, Russia has launched an attack into Ukraine and Ukraine absolutely has the right to strike back.”
Asked if that included targets inside Russia, he said: “That’s a decision for Ukraine and Ukraine has that right. ”
His comments came as new Europe minister Nusrat Ghani hailed the “absolute determination” of people in Britain to see Putin defeated as a driving force behind military aid being sent to Kyiv. She said that MPs were being bolstered by their constituents to be “steadfast” in backing Ukraine for the long-term in its battle against the “totalitarian imperialist”.
Britain has led the West in providing equipment, first with anti-tank weapons, then Challenger II tanks and Storm Shadow long-range missiles.
With the war now in its third year, the Foreign Office minister argued that the UK and other allies of Ukraine would not be “distracted” from support for Kyiv by elections and other events which the Russian president might hope would mean a waning of the West’s focus on the conflict.
In an interview with the Evening Standard, Ms Ghani said: “We have a huge amount of acceptance among British voters why Ukraine is so important to us and this is because we are absolutely steadfast in believing in the importance of sovereignty, in believing in the importance of liberal democracies, especially when they are dealing with an individual like Putin, who is a totalitarian imperialist who will never stop at defining his borders, he will just encroach for as long as he able to do so.”
Ms Ghani also praised the “courage” of mothers, wives and girlfriends of Russian soldiers killed or deployed in Ukraine who take part in protests.
