MOSCOW, August 27. /TASS/. Ukraine's demands for permission from the West to strike deep into Russian territory with Storm Shadow missiles are blackmail, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference following talks with Yemeni Foreign Minister Shaya Mohsen al-Zindani.

"This is blackmail, it is an attempt to create an impression that the West wants to avoid excessive escalation, but in fact this is slyness. The West does not want to avoid escalation. The West is asking for trouble, to put it bluntly. I reckon that this is already obvious to everyone," he said.

Lavrov warned that the West was playing with fire whenever it started discussions on this topic.

"For a long time we have been hearing these speculations about allowing the use of not only Storm Shadow, but also US long-range missiles. By the way, some anonymous source in Washington said that such work is underway. Ukraine's request is being considered in a generally positive way," Lavrov said. "We are now confirming once again that playing with fire - and they are like little kids playing with candles - is a very dangerous thing for grown-ups who are entrusted with nuclear weapons in one or another Western country."

Earlier, British government officials made contradictory statements about issuing permission to Kiev to use Storm Shadow missiles for strikes deep into Russian territory. According to the British media, London is deliberately breeding confusion to keep Russia in the dark about its real position.