Boris Johnson pressures Starmer and Biden to let Ukraine use long-range missiles after Zelensky meeting

PM prepares to hold talks with US president after Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened war with Nato

Boris Johnson has dramatically intervened in the Ukraine war piling pressure on Keir Starmer and Joe Biden to let Kyiv use long-range missiles against Russia.

In a damartic escalation of tensions, Russian president Vladimir Putin has threatened Nato with war if it allows the use of the weapons against Russia.

The former prime minister said restrictions should be lifted “as fast as possible” hours after he met Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.

He said it was “vital that Ukraine should be able to defend itself properly by stopping the appalling Russian attacks with glide bombs and now Iranian missiles.”

Ukraine should be able to use the weapons, including Storm Shadow missiles, “as fast as possible against targets in Russia itself,” he said. “Every day that goes by means more pointless and tragic loss of Ukrainian lives”.

In an apparent dig at other Western politicians the Ukrainian president tweeted he was “grateful” for Mr Johnson’s support, adding: “Ukrainians always remember those who stand by them.”

Boris Johnson in Ukraine as Putin threatens war with Nato (AP)

Earlier President Zelensky expressed his frustrations, saying that after meeting the foreign secretary David Lammy and his US counterpart Antony Blinken this week "there should be no unanswered questions” about why Ukraine needs long-range capabilities.

He added: "It’s difficult to repeatedly hear, ‘We are working on this,’ while Putin continues to burn down our cities and villages."

Their meeting came hours before prime minister was due to meet President Biden in Washington DC for talks on the Ukraine war.

The prime minister and the US president are believed to be on the cusp of allowing Kyiv to open up a new front in the conflict with Russia by using Western Storm Shadow long-range missiles.

But in a message apparently timed for when Sir Keir and his entourage were over the Atlantic on their way to the US, President Putin said such a move would mean that Russia would be “at war with Nato”.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (left) and Foreign Secretary David Lammy at the British ambassador’s residence in Washington before meeting Joe Biden (Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)

But a defiant PM told told journalists on the flight: “It was Russia who started this in the first place. They caused the conflict, they’re the ones who are acting unlawfully. And Ukraine obviously has the right to self-defence.”

He added: “That is why we have been providing training and capability. And, you know, there are obviously further discussions to be had about the nature of that capability.

“What I want to do is make sure that those discussions, tactical discussions, are set in the proper strategic context of the situation in Ukraine. And there are, equally, tactical issues in relation to the Middle East, which need to be set in a context which is strategic, not just tactical.”

Mr Johnson built a strong personal relationship with President Zelensky while he was in office and has urged the West to continue to support Ukraine against its Russian invaders.

But in February last year he was criticised by senior military figures and accused of “looking for publicity” in a warzone after it was revealed he planned to visit Ukraine.

The former head of the army, Lord Dannatt, also warned that the ex-prime minister was a “loose cannon” whose plan could upstage then PM Rishi Sunak.

The UK has also hit out at Russia after it accused six British diplomats of spying and withdrew their accreditation.

The allegations were "completely baseless", the Foreign Office said.

The FSB security service said the Russian Foreign Ministry has terminated accreditation for the six, employees in the British Embassy in Moscow’s political department.

The move was in response to "numerous unfriendly steps" by London and after "signs of spying and sabotage" were detected, the FSB said in a statement.

Putin has warned Nato the move would mean war (Getty/Reuters)

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: "The accusations made today by the FSB against our staff are completely baseless.

"The Russian authorities revoked the diplomatic accreditation of six UK diplomats in Russia last month, following action taken by the UK Government in response to Russian state-directed activity across Europe and in the UK.

"We are unapologetic about protecting our national interests."

The diplomats are understood to have left Russia weeks ago and are already being replaced.