Blinken, Lammy Cite Iranian Missiles to Russia Ahead of Kyiv Visit

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy are traveling to Kyiv this week, using the trip to spotlight newly declassified U.S. intelligence that Iran has trained Russian troops on its Fath‑360 short‑range ballistic missile system and already shipped missiles Moscow is expected to use against Ukraine within weeks. Blinken says those Iranian weapons will free up Russia’s own longer‑range missiles to hit targets deeper in Ukraine, and he alleges Tehran is being repaid with Russian space and nuclear technology, claims Iran dismisses as 'ugly propaganda' and the Kremlin partly disputes. In response, the U.K., France and Germany are canceling bilateral air‑service agreements with Iran and Washington is adding new sanctions, but Ukrainian presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak is publicly pressing the U.S. and its allies to go further by allowing Kyiv to use Western‑supplied weapons to strike military targets deep inside Russia. Blinken and Lammy say they will 'look and listen' in Kyiv, assess Ukraine’s needs as it braces for a third wartime winter under missile attack, and report back to President Biden and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer ahead of their White House meeting Friday. Blinken also used the London appearance to criticize Israel’s rules of engagement in the West Bank after an American activist’s killing, underscoring how the Ukraine war, Iran’s regional role and U.S. Middle East policy are colliding in current diplomacy.