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Lavrov: use of US-made missiles directly against Russia ‘a signal’ the west wishes to escalate conflict
Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, speaking in Rio de Janeiro, has said the use of US-made Atacms in a Ukrainian attack on Bryansk was “a signal” that the west wants to escalate the conflict.
Tass reports him saying “without the Americans, it is impossible to use these high-tech missiles. Putin has spoken about this several times.”
In September Russia’s president had said that the use of the weapons on targets inside Russia would amount to “the direct involvement of Nato countries, the US and European countries in the war in Ukraine.”
In a slight dampening down of the rhetoric today around nuclear weapons, Lavrov said Russia is strictly committed to a position of avoiding nuclear war, and that the weapons act as a deterrent.
He suggested that nothing in the updated nuclear doctrine published by Russia today differs from anything in US doctrinal documents, which also include broad terms such as permitting the US use of nuclear weapons to “stop potentially overwhelming conventional enemy forces”, ensure the success of an operation, or to end a war on terms favourable to the US.
Key events
Zelenskyy says Germany should support Ukraine’s longer-range strike capabilities
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says it is time for Germany to support Ukraine’s longer-range strike capabilities against Russia.
“I think after statements about nuclear weapons, it is also time for Germany to support corresponding decisions,” the Ukrainian leader said during a briefing in Kyiv with Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who held an hour-long call with Russian president Vladimir Putin last week, has been hesitant to provide long-range Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, fuelling frustration in Kyiv.
As my colleagues Pjotr Sauer and Kate Connolly write in this report, Scholz urged Putin to withdraw troops from Ukraine and negotiate with Kyiv to achieve a just and lasting peace, in the first call between a major western leader and the isolated Russian president since December 2022.
The one-hour phone call came after Putin reportedly spoke with the US president-elect, Donald Trump, whose incoming administration has vowed to push for a swift end to the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine for the first time has used the US-supplied Atacms long range missile system to hit a target deep inside Russia (targeting the south-western Bryansk region overnight), a day after Joe Biden, the outgoing US president, signalled his permission to do so.
My colleague Oliver Holmes has written an explainer on the capabilities of Atacms missiles and why they are so important to Ukraine:
Here is an extract from the piece:
The missile system is known as Army Tactical Missile System, or Atacms (pronounced “attack ’ems”). It was developed during the cold war to destroy Soviet targets and Kyiv has been using them already, but only on targets in occupied areas of Ukraine.
Made by Lockheed Martin, the missiles can strike targets up to 190 miles (300km) away. Ballistic missiles fly much higher in the atmosphere than most rockets and can evade anti-air defences as they hit the ground at huge speeds.
Atacms are considered long-range, although they do not have the range of a cruise or intercontinental ballistic missile.
Ukraine will now be able to strike targets in Russia to help it defend the more than 1,000 sq km of territory it holds in the Russian region of Kursk. The Atacms could target Russian weapons and ammunition depots, supply lines, and military bases, which would give relief to Ukrainian troops on the frontlines.
Sweden and Lithuania ‘deeply concerned’ by severed Baltic Sea cable
As we have been reporting, European countries have been reaction with alarm to reports of the severing of an undersea telecom cable connecting Sweden and Lithuania, which is now being investigated as sabotage.
In a joint statement, Sweden’s defence minister Pal Jonson and his Lithuanian counterpart Laurynas Kasciunas, said:
We are deeply concerned by the severed undersea cable connecting Lithuania and Sweden in the Baltic Sea.
They added that “situations like these must be assessed with the growing threat posed by Russia in our neighbourhood as a backdrop”.
Two fibre-optic cables – one linking Finland and Germany, the other connecting Sweden to Lithuania – stopped working between Sunday and Monday, recalling previous security incidents in the busy waterway affected by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“We have to state, without knowing specifically who it came from, that it is a ‘hybrid’ action. And we also have to assume, without knowing it yet, that it is sabotage,” Pistorius told journalists.
Regional Nato members were jointly assessing what happened, a spokesperson for the Lithuanian armed forces said, adding that naval forces had stepped up their patrols.
Summary of the day so far…
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Russia said on Tuesday that Ukraine’s use of long-range Atacms missiles against its territory marked a “new phase of the western war” against Moscow, and vowed to react “accordingly”. It came after Ukraine fired US-made long-range missiles into Russia for the first time since the Biden administration lifted restrictions on their use. Russia’s defence ministry reported that Ukraine launched six US-made Atacms missiles targeting the south-western Bryansk region overnight. The ministry claimed that five of the missiles were shot down and another was damaged. The ministry added that debris from the rockets caused a fire at an unnamed military facility (you can read a full account of what happened here).
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Britain is expected to supply Storm Shadow missiles for use by Ukraine on targets inside Russia, now that the US president, Joe Biden, has agreed to do the same for the similar American long-range Atacms weapon. Keir Starmer, the UK’s prime minister, said at the G20 summit that the UK recognised it needed to “double down” on its support for Ukraine, though he refused to be drawn on specific “operational details”.
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A deadly Russian attack on the northern Sumy region late on Monday (11.20pm local time) reportedly hit a dormitory of an educational facility in the small town of Hlukhiv. Authorities said 12 people, including a child, were killed and 11 others, including two children, were injured.
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In an address to Ukraine’s parliament, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he will not trade his country’s sovereignty in any negotiations to bring about an end to Russia’s war, after recently mooted peace proposals suggested that Kyiv make territorial concessions. Speaking to a special session of the European Parliament on Tuesday, the Ukrainian president urged Europe to intensify their military aid in a speech marking 1,000 days since Russia launched the full-scale invasion. Speaking by video link to the European parliament, Zelenskyy also said Vladimir Putin had brought 11,000 North Korean troops to Ukraine’s borders and “this contingent may grow to 100,000”.
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European nations should be ready to send troops to Ukraine to secure any peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow orchestrated by Donald Trump, Estonia’s foreign minister, Margus Tsahkna, said.
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Vladimir Putin signed a revised nuclear doctrine lowering the threshold for using nuclear weapons. In a key section of the updated nuclear doctrine, Russia has expanded the list of criteria that require a nuclear response to include “aggression by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear country”. Such actions, the doctrine says, will be considered a joint attack. Washington has downplayed the significance of this revision.
Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, has said the largest EU economies are ready to take on a greater burden of military and financial support for Ukraine, according to Ukrinform. Poland is spending 4% of its GDP on defence and Sikorski has said previously that other countries had catching up to do.
Speaking at a press conference in Warsaw with other European ministers, he was quoted as saying:
We are convinced that in the current geopolitical situation, cooperation between Europe and the United States remains a key factor for the security and prosperity of the Euro-Atlantic community.
Only strong transatlantic ties will allow us to effectively counter the growing threats from Russia and other countries…
Europe must take greater responsibility for its own security”, in particular through a more balanced distribution of the burden between Nato member states.
Sikorski said that together with former Estonian prime minister, Kaja Kallas, who will replace Josep Borell as the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs next month, the ministers discussed “the possibilities of increasing support for Ukraine”.
“In this context, I gratefully note readiness of the largest members of the European Union to take on a greater burden of military and financial support for Ukraine,” he said.
Jessica Elgot
Jessica Elgot is in Rio de Janeiro for the Guardian
Keir Starmer has told reporters at the G20 summit in Brazil that he was determined Ukraine would get the right weapons to defeat Putin, while refusing to be drawn on the operational specifics.
In comments after the G20 communique significantly watered down support for Ukraine since last year, the UK’s prime minister said he would keep making the case. Asked if the US had finally paved the way for the UK supply Storm Shadow missiles for use by Ukraine on targets inside Russia, Starmer said: “My position has always been that Ukraine must have what it needs for as long as it needs. Putin must not win this war.
“But look, forgive me, I’m not going to go into operational matters, because there’s only one winner if I do that, and that is Putin and it would undermine Ukrainian efforts.”
Starmer, who has met China’s Xi Jinping and India’s Narendra Modi at the summit as well as US president Joe Biden on the sidelines, said he had continued to urge more support.
“Here at the G20 and for many, many weeks, I’ve been making the case that Ukraine must have what it needs for as long as it needs, that we must put Ukraine in the strongest possible position to win this war. It impacts Ukraine, but it impacts all of us, and Russia cannot be allowed to win this war,” he told the BBC.
The EU’s outgoing top diplomat Josep Borrell has described Russia’s nuclear rhetoric as “completely irresponsible.”
Reuters quotes him saying “It is not the first time that they threatened with nuclear escalation, which is completely irresponsible. Russia has subscribed to the principle that a nuclear war cannot be won, and so it must never be fought.”
Borrell is due to be succeeded by former Estonia prime minister Kaja Kallas at the beginning of December.
White House sees no need to respond to change in Russian nuclear doctrine
Reuters has a quick snap that the White House National Security Council spokesperson has said Washington is not surprised by the Russian announcement of an updated nuclear doctrine.
They continued by saying that the US saw no reason to change its own nuclear doctrine or posture in response to the statements from Russia today.
Lavrov: use of US-made missiles directly against Russia ‘a signal’ the west wishes to escalate conflict
Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, speaking in Rio de Janeiro, has said the use of US-made Atacms in a Ukrainian attack on Bryansk was “a signal” that the west wants to escalate the conflict.
Tass reports him saying “without the Americans, it is impossible to use these high-tech missiles. Putin has spoken about this several times.”
In September Russia’s president had said that the use of the weapons on targets inside Russia would amount to “the direct involvement of Nato countries, the US and European countries in the war in Ukraine.”
In a slight dampening down of the rhetoric today around nuclear weapons, Lavrov said Russia is strictly committed to a position of avoiding nuclear war, and that the weapons act as a deterrent.
He suggested that nothing in the updated nuclear doctrine published by Russia today differs from anything in US doctrinal documents, which also include broad terms such as permitting the US use of nuclear weapons to “stop potentially overwhelming conventional enemy forces”, ensure the success of an operation, or to end a war on terms favourable to the US.
US and Ukrainian officials confirm US-made Atacms missiles used in attack on Russia
Senior US and Ukrainian officials have confirmed that US-made Atacms missiles have been fired into Russian territory for the first time during the Ukraine war.
The attack came two days after Joe Biden’s administration permitted their use, and on the 1,000th day of the war since Russia’s full-scale invasions was launched.
The senior officials confirmed the early morning launches to the New York Times.
Russia’s ministry of defence claimed it had shot down five of six missiles fired at Bryansk, in an attack with took place at 3.20am Moscow time (0.20am GMT).
Russia today announced that it had lowered its threshold for what could potentially trigger the use of its nuclear weapons, including considering it a joint attack if it consisted of “aggression by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear country.”
The Guardian’s defence and security editor, Dan Sabbagh, has weighed up the potential significance of Joe Biden’s decision to permit Kyiv to use US-made long-range missiles for strikes inside Russia. Here is an extract from his analysis piece, which you can read in full here:
Kyiv did not have a significant long-range missile programme before the full-scale Russian invasion and has been hamstrung by its western backers ever since.
The US, UK and France may have donated long-range missiles but they have only allowed them to be used against targets inside Ukraine’s internationally recognised borders – meaning that key airfields, fuel depots, logistics sites and barracks in Russia had remained beyond the reach of Ukraine, except through drone attacks.
White House leaks to US media on Sunday night indicate that Biden, with two months of his presidency left to run, has given permission for Atacms missiles, which have a range of 190 miles (300km), to be used inside Russia.
However, there is an apparent qualification: they must be used in relation to the battle in Kursk oblast. There, Russia, with the help of North Korea, has massed about 50,000 troops and is aiming to snuff out Ukraine’s three-month incursion.
David Lammy makes statement reaffirming British government’s support for Ukraine
The UK’s foreign secretary, David Lammy, has reaffirmed the British government’s support for Ukraine on the 1,000th day of the war.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Lammy said he is urging European countries who are not spending 2% of their GDP on defence to do so.
Speaking to the shadow foreign secretary, Priti Patel, Lammy said: “Successive US governments – long before Donald Trump – has been raising that as an issue. And, of course, it is our intention to get back to 2.5% of GDP. That is what it was when we left office and we want to get back there.”
Lammy says Britain has committed £7.8bn to military support and that the prime minister, Keir Starmer, has committed to provide £3bn a year in military support for “as long as it takes”.
He expressed “huge concerns” about Pyongyang’s deployment of troops in Moscow’s war with Ukraine, describing it as a “major escalation” in the conflict. According to US, South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence assessments, up to 12,000 North Korean troops have been sent to Russia as part of a major defence treaty between the countries. You can hear more of Lammy’s comments in this video:
Child among 12 people killed in Russian drone attack on Sumy region – officials
The death toll from a Russian drone attack on the small town of Hlukhiv in Sumy region has risen to at least 12 (previous reports said 7 people had been killed).
The strike by a Shahed drone in the northern Sumy region late on Monday (11.20pm local time) reportedly hit a dormitory of an educational facility in Hlukhiv.
Authorities said 12 people, including a child, were killed and 11 others, including two children, were injured. More people are likely trapped under the rubble.