£600m aid for Ukraine to 'fight imperialism and fascism'

DAVID Lammy has unveiled a £600million package of aid for Ukraine's fight against "imperialism and fascism".

- Steph Spyro

In Kyiv yesterday, the Foreign Secretary said Ukraine was on the front line in the fight for freedom.

It comes as Britain and the US are in talks with Kyiv over dropping a ban on long-range missiles including UK-supplied Storm Shadow being used to strike targets inside Russia.

Concern about a wider conflict has been a major Western fear.

Yesterday, Mr Lammy and his US counterpart Antony Blinken suggested Vladimir Putin had already escalated the war by seeking missiles from Iran.

US President Joe Biden and PM Sir Keir Starmer will discuss the issue in Washington tomorrow.

Mr Lammy, who travelled to Kyiv from London with Secretary of State Mr Blinken, said Britain would provide £600million to support the country's "humanitarian, energy and stabilisation needs", along with "hundreds of additional air defences and tens of thousands of artillery shells".

Recalling painful family history, Mr Lammy said: "Putin's barbaric actions are the latest example of a very old and evil story.