UK PM Andy Burnham to provide Ukraine with data to produce SCALP missiles amid Russia tensions
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "UK PM Andy Burnham to provide Ukraine with data to produce SCALP missiles amid Russia tensions")
UK PM Andy Burnham, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin
UK PM Andy Burnham will announce British support for Ukraine's long-range missile production during his Kyiv visit on August 24. Britain will allow MBDA to share classified information on UK-made SCALP missile components, enabling France and Ukraine to establish local assembly lines.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham will visit Ukraine on Monday (Aug 24) on his first overseas trip since taking office amid worsening relations with Russia. Burnham is expected to announce British support to help Kyiv improve its domestic production of long-range missiles. Burnham will co-chair a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing, a group of countries backing Ukraine, and will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. According to his office, he will announce that Britain has agreed to allow European missile manufacturer MBDA to release classified information on British-made components used in the SCALP long-range cruise missile. That will help enable France and Ukraine to establish local assembly lines for the missile, which shares British and French technology, according to Downing Street.
"Ukraine's security is our security," Burnham said in a statement, adding that Britain would stand by Ukraine "for as long as it takes." Britain has been one of Ukraine's strongest supporters since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, providing military support, economic aid and diplomatic backing. The visit comes weeks after Zelensky travelled to Britain as Burnham's first international guest, following the Labour leader's election as prime minister a week earlier.
The tensions between the UK and Russia over support to Ukraine in the war has escalated after Burnham came to power, with Kremlin withdrawing its ambassador to the UK. Andrey Kelin, who served as the Russian ambassador to the UK for over seven years, left his diplomatic posting on July 21. Moscow has not submitted any candidates to the Foreign Office to replace him and embassy staff are understood to have no indication of when a successor might be appointed, UK based-The Times reported. Last week, Burnham said that the UK is continuing to “support Ukraine 100 per cent” after Moscow threatened consequences for the reported use of British drones for strikes deep into Russia. Moscow warned London last week of "consequences" for supplying drones to Kyiv.
