Is Burnham Risking Putin’s Wrath With Fresh Ukraine Support?

Andy Burnham stepped onto the international stage this week for the first time as UK prime minister.

He has rarely weighed in on foreign affairs over his decades in politics, so his trip to Ukraine attracted more attention than usual – including from Russia.

Burnham also went beyond the platitudes European politicians are often accused of using with Ukraine and instead gave Kyiv the blueprints to build its own long-range missiles.

This meant releasing classified information so Ukraine can up the intensity of its its attacks on Russia.

His announcement came a week after it was confirmed British drones had been used by Ukraine to strike targets deep within Russia, too.

The Russian embassy in the UK warned Britain that the “deeper its involvement in the conflict, the higher the price it will pay” – a sentiment then echoed by Vladimir Putin’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.

The Kremlin even accused Britain of “participating in this war” after handing over the blueprints on Monday, claiming that Britain has added “fuel to the fire”.

But Burnham shrugged off the threats by asking: “Who started the fire?”

He insisted Britain will not just be a “fair-weather friend” to Ukraine and showed no sign of being intimidated.

Burnham also noted that he was simply supporting the same ally Keir Starmer, Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson prominently backed when they were in office.

He’s right: the UK has already committed to £25 billion in funding for Ukraine since Putin invaded in 2022, £16 billion of which was in military assistance.

And there’s no love lost between Britain and Russia. Animosity has been rising between the two countries ever since Putin annexed Crimea in 2014 and relations took a nosedive after the 2018 Salisbury poisonings.

Moscow also withdrew its ambassador from the London embassy the day after Burnham got the keys to No.10.

A month later, Russia is yet to offer any appropriate candidates to the Foreign Office.

However, there are fears Burnham’s actions this week may have triggered fresh ire in Moscow, especially at a time when Putin is reportedly already feeling rather desperate.

The number of Russian casualties has reportedly reached 30,000 a month while fuel shortages and long-range Ukrainian attacks have brought the distant war home for many citizens.

With so many signs that the Ukraine conflict – which has now lasted longer than World War 1 – is going wrong for Putin, could the authoritarian look to broaden his aggression and make Britain public enemy number one?

On this week’s Commons People, we unpick the significance of Burnham’s trip to Kyiv and just how concerned Brits should be about Russia right now.

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