Starmer less supportive of Ukraine than Sunak was

 From the Guardian:

"Relations between Ukraine and UK are worse under Labour, say Kyiv officials

Ukraine’s relationship with the UK has “got worse” since the Labour government took power in July, officials in Kyiv have told the Guardian, voicing frustration over Britain’s failure to supply additional long-range missiles.

The UK prime minister is yet to visit Ukraine four months after taking office and a frustrated Kyiv has said that a trip would be worthless unless Keir Starmer committed to replenishing stocks of the sought-after long-range Storm Shadow system...

Ukraine is growing increasingly unhappy with London as Russian troops advance in the east of the country at their fastest rate since 2022, with US officials concluding that the frontlines can no longer be considered static. Ukrainian commanders said they were heavily outgunned...

Ukraine’s principal complaint with the UK is that it has not supplied any additional missiles from its reserves of Storm Shadow, even for use against targets in Crimea and other Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia since 2014.

The official said: “It isn’t happening. Starmer isn’t giving us long-range weapons. The situation is not the same as when Rishi Sunak was prime minister. The relationship has got worse.”

Sunak visited Kyiv in November 2022 within a month of becoming prime minister...

Britain and France said in 2023 they would supply Storm Shadow missiles, known by the French as Scalp, but the number of strikes has dwindled during 2024. “You would know if the UK had provided us with new Storm Shadow missiles because we would be using them to hit Russian targets. We are not,” the official added.

The last Storm Shadow strike claimed by the Ukrainian military was on 5 October, targeting Russian command posts. Prior to that five or more missiles were thought to have been used against Sevastopol naval base in March of this year.

Starmer met Zelenskyy on Thursday at a European political summit in Budapest. The prime minister said the UK’s support for Ukraine was “unwavering” and acknowledged “we need to step up”. “It’s very important that we stand with you,” Starmer said.

But the Ukrainian president pointed to the private frustrations in a social media post, accompanied by a picture of the two leaders. “An important element of the victory plan is providing Ukraine with long-range weaponry and granting permission to use it against military targets on Russian territory,” Zelenskyy said.

Privately, sources in Kyiv complained that the meeting in Hungary led to “no progress at all” on the missile issue. Until deliveries of Storm Shadow resumed there was little point in Starmer travelling to Kyiv, they added.

“We have been discussing since August a possible visit by Starmer. Various dates have come and gone. Starmer has postponed several times,” the official said. They added: “There’s no point in his coming as a tourist. At the moment he’s not willing to take the decisions which are necessary.”...

Zelenskyy has also repeatedly urged the UK to lift restrictions on the use of Storm Shadows against military sites deep inside Russia. Downing Street had been thought to be sympathetic to the request but has not rescinded the ban because of entrenched opposition from the Biden administration.

Disillusionment on the Ukrainian side with the new government follows discussions between Starmer and Zelenskyy last month at No 10. Zelenskyy presented his “victory plan”, which includes Nato membership for Ukraine, and more military and economic support from key allies.

The plan met “no big response”, the senior official said. They suggested that Starmer was unwilling to make strategic decisions without approval from Washington, despite private assurances he made to Zelenskyy that the UK had freedom to act independently.

In recent months the Kremlin has stepped up bombardments using Iranian Shahed and ballistic missiles, with a major drone attack early on Thursday. Much of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has already been destroyed as the freezing winter season approaches, and air raid alerts in Kyiv and other cities sound practically every night.

Meanwhile, as many as 10,000 North Korean soldiers are mustering in western Russia to join battle against Ukraine. In a post last week on X, Zelenskyy accused the US, UK and Germany of passively “watching” as North Korea’s army took part in a war in Europe. He urged allies to approve long-range strikes so that North Korean troops might be attacked before they killed Ukrainians."

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Despite the nice talk of Western leaders, the harsh truth is that Russia has allies while Ukraine has none. And this, unfortunately, includes the USA and the UK that disarmed Ukraine with the Budapest Memorandum, promising to defend it in return - a promise which turned out to be false.