Officials and lawmakers turned on Vladimir Putin after the Russian leader said the potential lifting of NATO restrictions on Ukraine to launch far-reaching strikes against Russia would mean NATO countries were “at war” with Russia.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is meeting with US President Joe Biden at the White House today where the two are expected to discuss easing restrictions on Storm Shadow missiles that would allow Ukraine to hit targets up to 155 miles inside Russia.
Washington and London have indicated they have no plans to change policy. Moscow’s ambassador to the UN told the Security Council on Friday that easing the restrictions would mark an escalation to “outright war” between Moscow and NATO.
The remarks sparked an angry response in Washington, where officials accused Putin of rattling the gun to scare NATO countries into backing Ukraine.
US Senator Jim Risch said Ukraine should have the authority to strike targets deep inside Russia, including active Russian bombers launching missiles at Ukrainian cities.
“He knows that long-range strikes from Ukraine would cause significant damage to his war effort. Several Russian missiles landed on NATO territory and NATO did not escalate,” he said.
He also said:
“Ukraine must be allowed to defend itself, period. If that means a Russian bomber launching missiles at Ukrainian civilians is targeted from Russian airspace, then Ukraine should be able to carry out that strike.”
Speaking to reporters on Friday, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said there was unlikely to be an announcement to lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of UK- and France-supplied missiles in Ukraine.
But, at the same time, he said that the US and its NATO allies have “their own calculation for what we decide to provide to Ukraine”.
“I never said we don’t take Putin’s threats seriously. He’s starting to brandish the nuclear sword, we’re taking it seriously and we’re following it. He’s clearly shown himself to be capable of aggression. He’s clearly proven to be capable of escalation… But it’s not something we haven’t heard before.” , Kirby said.
The plan of victory and stormy debates
Biden and Starmer are meeting for the second time at the White House following last month’s NATO summit, which came just days after Labor won the UK general election and regained power after 14 years in opposition.
The two leaders are expected to discuss a range of foreign policy topics, including Ukraine, the conflict in the Middle East… Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky is likely to present a “victory plan” to Biden on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly later this month.
As heated debates over the future of the war take place behind closed doors, Washington and its allies have continued to pledge to stand behind Ukraine in the war.
“We will do everything we can to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs to defend itself,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Friday, Klix.ba writes.
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