When Prime Minister Keir Starmer swept out the Conservative government in July, he promised a new era for British politics and a reset of its relations with the European Union. One thing hasn’t changed: Britain’s bitter dealings with an aggressive Russia. If anything, the bad blood has gotten worse.

Tensions between Britain and Russia spiked this week over signs that the United States, prodded by Britain, was moving toward allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied missiles to strike military targets deep inside Russian territory.

As Starmer arrived in Washington on Friday for talks with President Joe Biden, he and Russian President Vladimir Putin traded harsh words, while Russia said it had expelled six British diplomats.