Sir Keir Starmer is in Washington right now taking part in discussions which could be among the most consequential of the Ukraine war.
President Biden and Starmer had been expected to announce approval for the use of long-range precision missiles by Ukraine against Russian territory for the first time, but there may be no public announcement. Just a private agreement. But let’s see.
In a visit to Kyiv this week, foreign secretary David Lammy blamed Putin for escalating the conflict with his “new axis” of “renegades”, referring to a recent Iranian shipment of ballistic missiles to Russia.
Lammy’s invocation of Iran’s missile assistance appears to justify what reports indicate is Britain’s “quiet approval” of Ukraine using UK-donated Storm Shadow missiles against Russia. During the visit, Lammy’s American counterpart, Blinken, hinted that the US was nearing a similar authorization.
However, some reports indicate that the US may hold off from allowing the use of its own Atacms missiles against Russia, instead sanctioning such strikes with only the weapons provided by other allies, including the UK.
Speaking to Russian state TV outside the Kremlin, Putin ominously warned that any long-range attacks “will change the very essence, the very nature of the conflict”. The Russian President went on to explain that Ukraine lacks the operational targeting capabilities for the provided weapons systems, therefore, help from Western intelligence is essential to carry out such strikes.
If the West goes through with this, Putin said NATO will be “directly participating” in a war against Russia.
Several European policymakers have already downplayed Putin’s rhetoric, as the Russian leader has promised retaliation against the west on several occasions throughout the war. Others, including Russia’s representative at the UN security council, reminded the west that Russia is a nuclear power, and cautioned NATO not to cross Putin’s red-line.
Putin’s threats coincided with an announcement today that six British diplomats were expelled from Moscow for “espionage” and for conducting actions “aimed at harming our (Russian) people”. Russia’s FSB followed up by releasing the photos and names of each British foreign office worker they alleged to be involved.
The UK government responded by calling the accusations “baseless”, saying the diplomats’ accreditations were actually revoked by Moscow last month in response to the UK targeting Russian-paid saboteurs in Britain. Putin’s timing of the diplomat-news release therefore appears to be in direct response to today’s US-UK missile dialogue.
Despite the potentially promising policy shift by western allies, Zelensky took aim at his partners today saying they are “too afraid” to help Ukraine in downing incoming drones and missiles in the same way they helped Israel to do so in April. His scathing comments come as eleven Ukrainian civilians were killed today by Russian strikes across the nation.
Although the long-range change is months overdue in their eyes, the Ukrainian side will surely welcome the 155 miles in increased striking capacity. They may finally be able to precisely target numerous crucial Russian bases used to stage devastating attacks against their country.
Zelensky has attested that this move could even make the difference in the entire conflict, potentially breaking Putin’s resolve and “motivating him to seek peace”. However, in weeks since Zelensky’s optimistic remarks, assessments have emerged indicating that many of the key Russian assets have already been moved out of range.
Feelings of gratitude are thus likely to be overtaken by those of frustration even if Ukraine receives Biden and Starmer’s blessing today, as once again, the conditioned western assistance seems to be too little, too late.
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