The meeting comes just days a British newspaper said the US and UK had reportedly made the decision to allow Ukraine to use partly British-made Storm Shadow missiles to strike targets deeper inside Russia, something neither leader referred to.
US President Joe Biden has brushed off a threat from Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin about a war with the West if Ukraine’s allies allow it to use weapons to strike targets deeper inside Russia.
It’s a shift that Kyiv has been pressing for for weeks but no decision was immediately announced following a meeting between Biden and Britain’s prime minister, Keir Starmer.
“The United States is committed…to help Ukraine as a defence against Russia’s onslaught of aggression. Make it clear that Putin will not prevail in this war. The people of Ukraine will prevail,” said Biden, without making any reference to Western long-rang missiles.
Asked what he thought about Putin’s threat, Biden answered, “I don’t think much about Vladimir Putin.”
Starmer made no mention of missiles either in brief comments before official talks got under way, saying only that Ukraine was an important topic and, “I think the next few weeks and months could be crucial. Very, very important that we support Ukraine in this vital war of freedom.”
Starmer’s comments come two days after the British newspaper The Guardian reported that the US and UK had made the decision behind closed doors to allow Ukraine to use partly British-made Storm Shadow missiles to strike targets deeper inside Russia.
Two anonymous US officials said they believed Starmer was seeking Biden’s approval to allow Ukraine to use the missiles as some of their components are made in America.
The US, concerned about any steps that could lead Russia to escalate the conflict, has moved cautiously before granting a series of earlier requests from Ukraine for specific arms, including advanced tanks, missiles and F-16 fighter jets.
Meanwhile, at the United Nations in New York, Moscow’s ambassador told the Security Council that NATO would be conducting “direct war” against Russia if approval were given to use Western-donated weapons to strike Russia.
“In this case, we will have to, as you understand, take the relevant decisions with all the consequences for this that the western aggressors would incur,” Vasily Nebenzya said.
“We’re not talking about a game here. The facts are that NATO will be a direct party to hostilities against a nuclear power. I think you shouldn’t forget about this.”
Those remarks echoed comments Vladimir Putin made in Saint Petersburg on Thursday, in which he warned the West of consequences if Kyiv was granted the permission it is seeking.
That prompted at least one Russian newspaper, Comersant, to say “Putin has drawn his red line” on Friday’s front page.
But despite warnings from the Kremlin, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy remained resolute that permission to strike military targets in Russia is crucial to turning the tables in the war.
Speaking at the Yalta European Strategy Meeting in Kyiv he said Putin doesn’t need approval to hit targets in Ukraine.
“When we hear that new missiles have arrived in Russia from Iran, it is the same evil that the allies have already had to shoot down in the skies of the Middle East,” he said.
“If the allies are jointly shooting down missiles and drones in the skies over the Middle East, why is there still no similar decision to jointly shoot down Russian missiles and Iranian ‘Shaheds’ [drones] over Ukraine?”
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