ANDY BURNHAM was accused of “utter subservience” to the EU military-industrial complex after he urged Ukraine’s allies to provide more Patriot interceptor missiles to the war-torn country today.

Chairing a meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing,” the PM urged Ukraine’s allies to “dig into our own stocks” to help the country while calling on the US Congress to ratchet up economic pressure on Russia.

He also compared Ukraine’s fight against Russia to Britain’s fights against Nazi Germany during a ceremony to mark the 35th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence earlier in central Kiev.

This followed the Labour leader telling European Council president Antonio Costa that Britain will be “bolder” in closer ties with the European Union as they met on a train while travelling to Ukraine on Sunday night.

Communist Party general secretary Alex Gordon said: “Andy Burnham says his government will be bolder in getting closer to the EU included building on defence and security ties. 

“But his actions show that he is meekly treading the same path as his predecessors, Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer.

“Britain is Nato’s messenger boy, supplying cash for President Zelensky’s corrupt regime and arms contracts for missile manufacturers. 

“While ordinary Ukrainians resist press gangs and demand elections, Britain’s Prime Minister reveals his utter subservience to the EU military-industrial complex.”

Mr Burnham’s comments on Sunday came ahead of an upcoming summit between Britain and EU, which was due to take place in July but will now go ahead later this year. 

A Downing Street spokesman said that Mr Burnham’s aims for Britain to be “bolder” in closer ties with the bloc “included building on the close defence and security ties already forged between the UK and European allies to drive greater co-operation across all areas of the relationship.”

A Stop the War Coalition spokeswoman said: “These sorts of comparisons are not helpful, though if Andy Burnham is keen on them he might have drawn a likeness between the trench warfare in Ukraine now and that of the first world war. 

“But if he really backs the Ukrainian people he would listen to them and the polling that shows they overwhelmingly want a negotiated settlement and discuss with Ukraine’s president how Britain might assist in brokering that. 

“Instead he’s pursuing the path of endless escalation by supplying long-range missile blueprints and drones to attack civilian and commercial targets and making the world a far more dangerous place for us all.

“And with the proxy war between Nato and Russia accelerating European moves to transform welfare states into warfare states, ultimately we all pay the price.”

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr ⁠Zelensky urged Ukraine’s allies to ⁠deliver an ⁠air ​defence package ahead of ⁠the winter, with Russia expected to renew ⁠its strikes on ​his country’s ‌energy ‌infrastructure.

Addressing the Coalition ‌of the Willing meeting, Mr Zelensky also asked Ukraine’s partners to help ‌cover a funding gap of €27 ​billion (£23bn) for its defence sector needs in ⁠2026. 

In this context, ​the president ​reminded ​his allies of ​the ‌Russian assets ​held ​frozen across European jurisdictions.

In a joint statement, the coalition’s co-chairs — Mr Burnham, France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Friedrich Merz — condemned Russia’s “systematic and escalating strikes against Ukraine’s cities, critical infrastructure and civilians.”

They pledged to continue efforts to “constrain Russia’s war chest” through sanctions and actions against the “shadow fleet,” and agreed the need for immediate assistance for Ukraine’s energy sector ahead of the coming winter.

The statement said the leaders “expressed their determination to increase military support to Ukraine, strengthen its air defence as a a matter of urgent priority, enhance co-operation with its defence industry, and share relevant technologies, including through the anti-ballistic missile coalition.”

They also committed to ratchet up sanctions on Russia’s military-industrial complex and those supporting it.