A government minister has declined to say if the UK was involved in a Ukrainian drone strike after the Russian ambassador partially blamed Britain for the attack.

More than a hundred drones were used to attack sites inside Russia over the weekend, leading to more than 40 warplanes being destroyed.

Speaking to The World With Yalda Hakim on Sky News following the attack, Russia’s UK ambassador warned it could risk escalating the conflict to “World War III”.

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Andrei Kelin pointed the finger at the UK because of the nature of the strike.

“[This] kind of attack involves, of course, provision of very high technology, so-called geospaced data, which only can be done by those who have it in possession. And this is London and Washington,” he told Hakim.

“I don’t believe that America [is involved], that has been denied by President Trump, definitely, but it has not been denied by London.

“We perfectly know how much London is involved, how deeply British forces are involved in working together with Ukraine.”

Asked if the UK had provided Ukraine with this technology, Steve Reed, the environment secretary, told Sky News: “I’m not going to speculate on something when I don’t know what the facts were.”

He said that “we as a government, cross-party actually, are standing foursquare alongside Ukraine as they fight – try to defend themselves – against a brutal, unprovoked and illegal attack and invasion”.

Mr Reed added: “We want there to be peace talks. We want this conflict to end. But it’s quite right that we should support Ukraine.”

Challenged if this escalation could risk Britain getting sucked into the conflict with Russia more directly, the cabinet minister responded: “I do know that the people of this country and the government of this country, want to stand alongside Ukraine.

“We need peace to happen in that region, we can’t allow Russia to get away with invading any more countries.”

It comes at a time of escalating tensions in the region, with both Russia and Ukraine upping their attacks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country’s drone strikes at the weekend “will undoubtedly be in history books”.

The blow is seen as one of the most daring of the war so far, though the US estimated only around 10 Russian bombers were blown up – and Russia said none were.

Overnight, Russia claimed it downed 174 Ukrainian drones and three cruise missiles across the country.

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Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities said Russia attacked towns and cities across Ukraine overnight.

Mr Zelenskyy said the assault was formed of more than 400 drones and 40 missiles.

US President Donald Trump had urged Mr Putin not to retaliate on Thursday. He told reporters: “I don’t like it, I said don’t do it, you shouldn’t do it, you should stop it.”

In response to the allegations of British involvement, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “We never comment on operational matters at home or abroad.”

Russia’s UK ambassador has told Sky News that Ukraine’s recent attacks risk escalating the conflict to “World War III” as he partly blamed the UK.

Andrei Kelin warned that Ukraine’s actions “are bringing the conflict to a different level of escalation”, in an interview with Sky News’ Yalda Hakim, and said Kyiv should “not try to engulf World War III”.

“That’s the very worst case scenario that we can imagine,” he said.

More than a hundred Ukrainian drones were deployed inside Russia over the weekend, destroying more than 40 warplanes in an attack Volodymyr Zelenskyy said “will undoubtedly be in history books”.

Mr Kelin pointed the finger at the UK when he said Ukraine must have had assistance in the attacks.

“[This] kind of attack involves, of course, provision of very high technology, so-called geospaced data, which only can be done by those who have it in possession. And this is London and Washington,” he said.

“I don’t believe that America [is involved], that has been denied by President Trump, definitely, but it has not been denied by London.

“We perfectly know how much London is involved, how deeply British forces are involved in working together with Ukraine.”

On Wednesday, Donald Trump said Vladimir Putin told him “very strongly” that Russia “will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields”.

The US president said that he discussed the attack with Mr Putin during a phone call that lasted more than an hour.

“It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate peace,” he wrote.

Mr Kelin repeated this sentiment, telling Sky News: “It is up to the Ministry of Defence to make a right solution, but we have to respond to it.”

A Downing Street spokesperson said: “We never comment on operational matters at home or abroad.”

Donald Trump says he has had a “very good” phone call with Xi Jinping amid their ongoing trade war, during which they agreed to more tariff talks.

Trade negotiations between the United States and China stalled shortly after a 12 May agreement between the two countries to reduce their rates on levies while talks took place.

The call was first reported by Chinese state media and confirmed by the Chinese foreign ministry. According to Chinese state media, Mr Trump initiated the call with the Chinese president.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, the US president said: “I just concluded a very good phone call with President Xi of China, discussing some of the intricacies of our recently made, and agreed to, trade deal.”

He said the call lasted around an hour and a half and “resulted in a very positive conclusion for both countries”.

There “should no longer be any questions” on rare earth products, he said.

“The conversation was focused almost entirely on trade. Nothing was discussed concerning Russia/Ukraine, or Iran,” Mr Trump added.

He said the two nations had agreed to further tariff talks, and both leaders invited each other to visit their respective countries.

According to Chinese state media, Mr Xi “pointed out that it is especially important to correct the course of the big ship of China-US relations, which requires us to keep the rudder and set the direction, especially to remove all kinds of interference and even sabotage”.

Mr Xi “emphasised that the US should handle the Taiwan issue carefully” to avoid the two countries being dragged “into a dangerous situation of conflict and confrontation”.

According to the readout of the call, Mr Trump “expressed great respect for President Xi Jinping and the importance of the US-China relationship”.

It came a day after Mr Trump declared it was difficult to reach a deal with his Chinese counterpart.

“I like President Xi of China, always have, and always will, but he is very tough, and extremely hard to make a deal with!!!,” Mr Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

The US president has cut his 145% tariffs on Chinese goods to 30% for 90 days to allow for talks, while China reduced its taxes on US goods from 125% to 10%.

The trade war has produced sharp swings in global markets and threatens to damage trade between the two nations.

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Mr Trump’s treasury secretary Scott Bessent had suggested only a conversation between the two leaders could resolve their differences in order for talks to begin in earnest.

Mr Trump and Mr Xi last spoke in January, three days before his inauguration, where they discussed trade, as well as Mr Trump’s demand for China to do more to stop the drug fentanyl from entering the US.