Starmer responds to Russian ambassador’s claims: The UK is not at war with Russia

He said this in the interview with the BBC in response to comments by Russia's ambassador to the UK, Andrei Kelin, about London's alleged "direct invvement", as reported by Ukrinform citing the Sky News.

"No, we're not at war, but Ukraine certainly is, because Ukraine has been invaded by Russia, and that war has now been going on for just over 1,000 days. That's 1,000 days of aggression from Russia and 1,000 days of sacrifice for Ukraine, and that is why we've said consistently that we stand by Ukraine. We cannot allow Putin to win this war," the British Prime Minister stated.

Starmer also dismissed Putin's threats about using weapons against countries that allow Ukraine to strike Russian territory with Western-supplied arms, calling it "irresponsible rhetoric."

Read also: Ukraine negotiating new air defense systems with partners – Zelensky

Earlier, the Russian ambassador claimed that the UK was "directly invved" in the war due to Ukraine's use of British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles in strikes on Russian targets.

As reported by media outlets, Ukrainian forces recently launched Storm Shadow cruise missiles at military facilities in Russia.

On November 21, Vladimir Putin stated that Russia launched a medium-range ballistic missile Oreshnik at Dnipro, allegedly in retaliation for the use of American and British long-range missiles on targets in Russia’s Kursk and Bryansk regions.