London, Thanasis Gavos

The UK prime minister has said his country is not at war with Russia, effectively rejecting claims by Russia’s ambassador in London that the British are now “directly involved” in the war in Ukraine, following the use of Storm Shadow missiles from Kiev for strikes inside Russian territory.

Asked at midday by BBC Radio Bristol if Britain was at war with Russia, Sir Kiir replied: “No, we’re not at war, but Ukraine certainly is, because Ukraine has been invaded by Russia and that war has been unfolding for over a thousand days now. It’s a thousand days of aggression from Russia and a thousand days of sacrifice for Ukraine and that’s why we constantly say that we stand by Ukraine. We cannot allow Putin to win this war.”

Regarding the position of the Russian president on global conflict and the threat of strikes against the interests of countries that allow Ukraine to use their own weapons, Mr. Starmer spoke of “irresponsible rhetoric”.

The British leader also said the war could end “today” if Putin abandoned his aggression.

“It’s not just a question of Ukraine’s sovereignty, it’s a question of our rights and our freedoms,” he continued.

He concluded by saying he did not expect to see a European country invaded again and expressed pride in Britain’s support for Ukraine.

“With the new supersonic ballistic missile “Oreshnik” we hit Ukraine”

In his speech, Putin said the West was escalating the conflict in Ukraine by allowing Kiev to hit Russia with long-range missiles and that the conflict was becoming global.

Vladimir Putin said the strike against Ukraine was carried out with a new hypersonic medium-range ballistic missile while declaring that his country “has the right” to strike states whose weapons Ukraine is using to strike Russia. At the same time, he warned that attacks with Western weapons on Russian soil will not change the course of the Russian military operation.