British Storm Shadow missiles can be fired by Ukraine into Russia, Sir Keir Starmer has signalled in a major shift of policy likely to anger Moscow.
Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the Prime Minister at a Nato summit in Washington for lifting a ban on Ukraine hitting targets across the border with one of the most effective Western weapons donated since the war.
Mr Zelensky said: “This morning, I learned about the permission to use Storm Shadow missiles against military targets in Russian territory. Today, we had the opportunity to discuss the practical implementation of this decision.”
Earlier in the day Sir Keir had said it was up to Ukraine how it used the Storm Shadow missiles donated by the UK.
The missiles must “obviously be used in accordance with international humanitarian law as you would expect,” the Prime Minister added, stating his position that Storm Shadows were to be used “for defensive purposes”.
“But it is for Ukraine to decide how to deploy it for those defensive purposes,” he said.