Britain’s top diplomat directly accused Vladimir Putin of running a “mafia state” and likened him to a slave-owner in a fiery address at the United Nations Security Council.
David Lammy, the U.K.’s foreign secretary, took aim at the Russian president during the New York gathering Tuesday, telling Russia’s representative: “We know who you are.”
Lammy invoked the legacy of slavery to take aim at Putin’s conduct in the invasion of Ukraine, and accused the Russian government of running “roughshod over international law” while claiming to stand up for the “Global South.”
“Your invasion is in your own interests,” he said. “Yours alone. To expand your mafia state into a mafia empire. An empire built on corruption.”
He added, “Mr President, I speak not only as a Briton, as a Londoner, and as a foreign secretary.
“But I say to the Russian representative, on his phone as I speak, that I stand here also as a Black man whose ancestors were taken in chains from Africa, at the barrel of a gun to be enslaved, whose ancestors rose up and fought in a great rebellion of the enslaved.
“Imperialism: I know it when I see it. And I will call it out for what it is,” Lammy said.
Storm Shadows push
Lammy’s address comes as Ukraine continues its intense lobbying push to win approval to use long-range Western missiles — including British-made Storm Shadows — on targets deep inside Russia.
At present they can only be deployed within Ukraine. The U.K. supports their use, but U.S. backing is required.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington on Thursday as he presents his “victory plan” to defeat Putin.
Speaking to reporters as he headed to New York, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer made clear that long-range missiles are up for discussion as world leaders gather — but appeared to downplay their significance.
“We will have discussions about a whole range of issues, and we will listen carefully to what President Zelenskyy’s got to say,” Starmer said.
“I don’t think [the] victory plan will be about a sole issue like long-range missiles, it will be about a strategic, overarching route for Ukraine to find a way through this and succeed against Russian aggression,” he added.
Sam Blewett contributed to this report.
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