Burnham visits Kyiv to reaffirm UK support for Ukraine
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Andy Burnham has announced that the UK will let defence firm MBDA declassify information on British components in the Scalp long-range missile, allowing Ukraine to build its own version of the weapon. The pledge came during his first foreign visit as prime minister, a trip to Kyiv where he chaired the "coalition of the willing" and marked Ukraine's independence day, aiming to show that UK support "will not waver" despite escalating Russian strikes, including a shopping centre attack on Friday that killed at least 16 people.
The Scalp missile weighs 1,300kg, is 5.10m long and can hit targets roughly 150 miles into Russia, giving Ukraine a significant new long-range capability, though short of its deep-strike drone range. Defence Minister Luke Pollard said the move would help Ukraine "defend against this illegal invasion", while President Zelensky separately renewed calls for 360 more Patriot interceptor missiles as US stockpiles run low. Moscow's embassy in London accused Britain of fuelling escalation, warning of consequences over Ukraine's use of British drones against Russian oil refineries and infrastructure.
- UK to let Ukraine build its own long-range Scalp missiles via MBDA
- Burnham visits Kyiv on first foreign trip, pledges lasting support
- Russia warns of "consequences", accuses UK of fuelling escalation
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Andy Burnham is the UK prime minister, and Kyiv is the Ukrainian capital he has now visited for the first time since taking office. Ukraine has been fighting to repel a full-scale Russian invasion that began in February 2022, and Western allies including Britain have supported it with weapons, funding and diplomatic backing. The "coalition of the willing" is a grouping led by the UK and France that coordinates support for Ukraine among sympathetic nations.
The visit falls around Ukraine's independence day, a national holiday marking its 1991 break from the Soviet Union, which has taken on added significance during the war with Russia. British support for Ukraine has included supplying military equipment such as Scalp missiles, made by the European defence firm MBDA, and more recently drones that Ukraine has used to strike targets inside Russia.
This matters because the war remains ongoing and deadly, with civilian casualties continuing on both sides, and because the level of Western military support directly affects Ukraine's ability to defend itself and Russia's response. Diplomatic relations between the UK and Russia have also been strained throughout the conflict, forming the backdrop against which any current developments should be understood.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Supporters argue that Ukraine's sovereignty and the deterrence of aggression depend on sustained, visible allied backing, and that Burnham's visit, chairing of the coalition of the willing, and moves to boost missile transparency and local assembly signal reliability to both Kyiv and Moscow. They contend that wavering or hedging support, especially after previous governments committed to it, would reward escalation such as the deadly strike on the shopping centre and embolden further Russian aggression, while continuity in policy reassures allies that Britain's commitments outlast changes of leadership.
The case against
Sceptics argue that deepening involvement, including declassifying missile component details and enabling local assembly lines, risks further entangling Britain in the conflict and provoking exactly the retaliatory escalation Moscow has warned of, potentially raising risks to UK security without a clear exit strategy. They contend that resources and diplomatic capital might be better directed towards pursuing a negotiated settlement or focusing on domestic priorities, and that symbolic gestures like awards and high-profile visits should not substitute for a candid public debate about the long-term costs and endpoint of continued military support.
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