MOSCOW, Aug 24 (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Monday that Britain’s decision to hand Ukraine classified information on British-made components used to make SCALP long-range cruise missiles would “add fuel to the fire” and was regarded by Moscow extremely negatively.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham arrived in Kyiv on Monday on his first overseas trip since taking office and was due to announce British support to help Kyiv improve its domestic production of long-range missiles.
Asked about the visit and the support, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Britain of doing everything it could to prevent any progress towards an eventual peace deal.
“Britain is involved in this war on the side of the Kyiv regime. Britain methodically and regularly adds fuel to the fire and methodically and regularly hatches schemes to prevent even the slightest progress in the peaceful settlement process,” Peskov told reporters.
Peskov said that the Russian military was already systematically gathering data to identify the location of any missile production sites and then destroying them.
Moscow warned London last week of unspecified “consequences” for supplying drones to Kyiv, accusing Britain of deepening its involvement in the war following a report that British-made drones had been used for long-range strikes against Russia for the first time. Burnham said at the time that London was committed to support Ukraine 100% against “this illegal war.”
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov, Editing by Andrew Osborn)
