UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer revealed on 13 September that no final decision has been made regarding long-range strikes inside Russia for Ukraine following his meeting with US President Joe Biden at the White House, as per Politico.
According to Politico, Starmer said after the meeting,
“We’ve come to a strong position,” but emphasized that “this wasn’t a meeting about a particular capability.”
He hinted at potential further developments, stating,
“We’ll obviously pick up again in UNGA [UN General Assembly] in just a few days time with a wider group of individuals.”
The White House, in its official readout of the meeting, stated that President Biden and Prime Minister Starmer “reaffirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine as it continues to defend against Russia’s aggression.” The leaders also “expressed deep concern about Iran and North Korea’s provision of lethal weapons to Russia and the People’s Republic of China’s support to Russia’s defense industrial base.“
Biden dismissed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claim that allowing such strikes would put NATO countries “at war with Russia,” saying, “I don’t think much about Vladimir Putin.” In response to a question about how soon he was prepared to let Ukraine fire missiles deeper into Russia, Biden added, “We’re going to discuss that now,” Politico reported.
Prior to the meeting, Starmer had not ruled out allowing Ukraine to use Storm Shadow missiles despite Putin’s threats. He stated, as reported by Politico, “Russia started this conflict. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Russia can end this conflict straight away.“
Follow-up:
No green light yet for Ukraine’s deep strikes, UK’s Starmer reports after White House meeting
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