Blinken said among their priorities is their “resolute support” for Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion, which the United States’ top diplomat said was made possible to continue due to support from China for machine tools and microelectronics and North Korea and Iran for weaponry.

Amid the war, the Biden administration and allied nations have slammed Russia with sanctions in part to limit its ability to secure lethal goods, forcing it to turn to the maligned governments of Tehran, Beijing and Pyongyang to restock its armory.

Since August of 2022, the Biden administration has accused Iran of sending drones to Russia, even constructing a drone manufacturing plant in the country, but Blinken for the first time Tuesday said Iran has transferred Fath-360 close-range ballistic missiles to the Kremlin, which dozens of Russian personnel have been trained on in Iran to use.

“Russia has now received shipments of these ballistic missiles and will likely use them within weeks in Ukraine against Ukrainians,” Blinken said.

Though Russia does have its own missiles, these, Blinken attested, will enable Russia to use its arsenal for targets off the frontline while employing the Iranian missiles for closer-rang targets.

In turn, Russia is transferring technology to Iran, including on nuclear issues, he said.

“This is a troubling pattern that we’re seeing from Iran,” Lammy said, concerning the transfer of ballistic weapons. “It is definitely a significant escalation, and we are coordinating actions.”

Iran lambasted the accusations as being “false,” “misleading” and “nothing more than vile propaganda” while attacking the United States for supporting Israel in its war against Hamas, which is an Tehran proxy militia.

“Such deceitful claims must not divert the global community’s attention from their responsibility to halt the Zionist regime’s war crimes and mass killings and to hold its supporters accountable,” Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani Chafi said in a statement. Iran does not refer to Israel by name.

Iran Air, Tehran’s national airline, was among the six entities and 10 people based in Iran and Russia that were sanctioned by the United States on Tuesday.

Britain and its E3 partners of France and Germany imposed punitive measures against many of the same targets while announcing they were canceling bilateral arrangements with Iran, restricting Iran Air services to Europe.

“We have been clear in that any transfer of ballistic missiles by Iran would face a significant response,” Lammy said in a statement.

“Today, alongside our international partners, we are calling out this behavior and its attempts to undermine global security.”

Blinken and Lammy said they are to visit Kyiv this week in the first joint visit of the kind in more than a decade.

The visit, Blinken said, comes at a “critical moment” in the war and reflects “strong transatlantic support” for the besieged ally, suggesting that more lethal support will be given to Ukraine during the trip.

“Together, we’re working to make sure that Ukraine can defend its territory against the ongoing aggression, that it will be able to stand strongly on its own two fee militarily, economically, democratically and that it will remain on the path that the Ukrainian people so desire it to be on of closer integration with Europe,” he said.

At more than $54 billion in lethal aid to Ukraine, the United States is Kyiv’s largest backer. Britain has pledged nearly $10 billion.

The war began Feb. 24, 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine.