Luke London, Sep 13 – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet US President Joe Biden on Friday to discuss next steps to support Ukraine . The main topic of the meeting will be whether to allow the use of Western missiles to attack targets in Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has for months urged his allies to allow Ukraine to launch Western missiles, including US long-range missiles and British Storm Shadow missiles, inside Russia in response to threats from Moscow.
The New York Times quoted European officials as saying that the United States is ready to approve the use of long-range missiles by Ukraine against Russian targets, provided these weapons are not provided by the United States.
President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that if the West allowed Ukraine to use Western-made long-range missiles to attack Russian territory, it would be a direct war with Russia . He said the move would change the nature and scope of the conflict.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British counterpart David Lammy held a joint fact-finding mission to Kyiv earlier this week, with the focus now turning to talks in Washington during which the two allies expressed a willingness to provide new information on Ukraine support but did not express any support.
On Wednesday, Lammy said discussions were likely to continue beyond Friday, dashing hopes that Starmer would make a firm announcement during his trip to Washington.
According to British media travelling with him to Washington, Starmer said:
“We certainly discuss a lot of things, but it’s not a series of individual decisions that we want to arrive at. It’s about making sure that whatever decisions we make are in a strategic context.”
