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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer left Washington on Friday after meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, amid signs that the United States is prepared to change its position on Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles in the coming days.
The summit between the two leaders ended without any announcements, but there were signs that Biden was willing to allow Britain and France to use Storm Shadow missiles against Ukraine, which use U.S. navigation data and other technologies.
“It wasn’t about a specific decision… We would definitely choose the following: [it] Going up again [at the UN General Assembly] “We will be able to engage with more individuals in the coming days,” Starmer told reporters after the meeting.
Some officials have speculated that Washington will eventually allow Ukraine to use the U.S.-provided Ground-Launched Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS.
The United States has been reluctant to provide arms, despite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s repeated requests for them, fearing that their deployment could escalate conflict with Russia.
“Our view on providing Ukraine with a long-range strike capability that could be used inside Russia has not changed, and we do not anticipate any major announcements of any kind coming out of those discussions,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said ahead of Friday’s summit.
But Washington has routinely provided Ukraine with weapons it previously declared it would not provide, and some within the Biden administration are pressing Kiev to have access to the missiles.
Ahead of his meeting with Starmer, Biden said: “The United States is committed to standing with you to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression. [Russian President Vladimir] Putin will not win this war. The Ukrainian people will win.”
Earlier Friday, Britain’s former national security adviser Sir Kim Darroch warned that allowing Ukraine to fire long-range Storm Shadow missiles at Russia risks a major escalation of the conflict.
Former Washington ambassador Darroch said Western allies should carefully consider Putin’s warning this week that deploying long-range weapons against targets inside Russia would put NATO “at war” with Moscow.
“We don’t want to escalate this problem,” Darroch told the Financial Times.
Asked about the threat from Putin, Biden said Friday, “I don’t think much about Vladimir Putin.”
Starmer said it was up to Ukraine to decide how to use the weapons it received from its allies, including the British-French Storm Shadow cruise missiles, provided they were used for defensive purposes and in accordance with international law.
But Darroch said he did not think Putin would follow through on his threats to retaliate when the West supplied Ukraine with tanks and missiles, saying the same would apply to cruise missile strikes on his territory.
“If they’re convinced he’s bluffing, that’s fine,” he said. “But he keeps bluffing until he’s not.”
Darroch added that he was not convinced that using Storm Shadow missiles to strike Russian targets would be a decisive factor in a war.
Russia’s UN ambassador, Vasily Nebenzia, said on Friday that if the West allowed Kiev to launch an attack deep into its territory, NATO countries would be “going directly to war with Russia.”
“The fact is that NATO will be directly involved in hostilities against a nuclear power,” he told the U.N. Security Council. “I think we should not forget that fact and think about the consequences.”
British diplomats said a final decision on whether to allow Kyiv to expand its military operations inside Russia would likely be made at the UN General Assembly later this month.
Starmer and Biden are expected to be in New York for talks with Zelensky and other Western allies.
The Ukrainian president has been lobbying Western allies for permission to use ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles against targets inside Russia.
“Anyone who looks at a map of where Russia is launching attacks, where it is training its troops, where it is maintaining reserves, where it is deploying military facilities, and where it is using its logistics, will understand why Ukraine needs long-range capabilities.” He talked about X On Friday.
Britain was the first country to send long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine, and has long taken a more lenient approach to how the weapons it supplies are deployed. MoD officials say they would like to do the same for Storm Shadows, if they can reach an agreement with Kiev’s other backers.
