Starmer’s comments come a day after it emerged that the US and UK had made the decision to allow Ukraine to use partly British-made Storm Shadow missiles to strike targets deeper inside Russia
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said Vladimir Putin started the war in Ukraine and can end it at any time. Speaking to reporters on a plane en route to Washington for talks with US President Joe Biden, Starmer said Ukraine has a right to self-defence.
“Russia started this conflict. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Russia can end this conflict straight away,” he said. He said the UK had provided “training and capability” to help Ukraine push back Russian troops and said he was visiting Biden because “there are obviously further discussions to be had about the nature of that capability”.
Those comments come a day after the British newspaper The Guardian reported that the US and UK had made the decision behind closed doors to allow Ukraine to use partly British-made Storm Shadow missiles to strike targets deeper inside Russia.
But on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that if Ukraine is allowed to use long-range Western-provided missiles to strike targets inside Russia, it would mean the direct participation of NATO countries in the conflict.
Western long-range precision weapons can only be used with intelligence data from NATO satellites and flight assignments entered by NATO military personnel, he claimed.
“This is their direct participation, and this, of course, significantly changes the very essence, the very nature of the conflict. This will mean that NATO countries, the United States and European countries are fighting against Russia,” Putin said.
“And if this is so, then, bearing in mind the change in the very essence of this conflict, we will make appropriate decisions based on the threats that will be created for us.”
Also on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with leaders of the Baltic States in Kyiv.
According to the president’s press service, the parties discussed the strengthening of military and technical cooperation during a meeting with Latvian Prime Minister Evika Sillina.
“We face hybrid attacks almost every day from Belarus; now drones are flying over our country, so we are here to learn from you as well,” Sillina told Zelenskyy during the meeting.
Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nausėda told Zelenskyy that the West needs to “push away” red lines and allow Ukraine to use Western-supplied weapons against military targets on Russian soil. “The sooner we understand that we have to push away those red lines that we draw too many times in our heads, the sooner Ukraine’s victory will come,” Nausėda said. Military assistance was also on the agenda during the meeting with the Estonian President Alar Karis.
“We appreciate Estonia’s decision to allocate 0.25% of GDP to Ukraine’s defence needs every year,” Zelenskyy wrote on his social media page following the meeting with Karis.
But while Zelenskyy has continually pushed for permission from western allies to use the weapons they provide to strike inside Russia, he said the world must face up to some uncomfortable questions for the war in Ukraine to end.
“It is very easy to condemn a Russian rocket that flies into our school. But it is not so easy to admit that this rocket can have parts from America, Europe, Asia, from any part of the world,” he said at the fourth First Ladies and Gentlemen Summit in Kyiv.
On Sunday, the day after the prime minister returns from Washington, he will fly to Rome to meet the Italian Prime Minister, Georgia Meloni.
Italy currently holds the rotating presidency of the G7 group of industrialised countries. A week later world leaders will gather in New York for the annual UN General Assembly.
There has long been a hesitancy to allow Ukraine to fire Western missiles into Russia because of fears it could be seen as provocative and draw the US, European countries and others directly into the conflict.
But with winter approaching and Russia getting extra support from Iran, minds appear to be changing.
When asked about the prospect of allowing the Anglo-French cruise missile called Storm Shadow to be used, the public remarks of senior figures remain guarded.
“There are really important developments likely in the next few weeks and months, both in Ukraine and the Middle East, and therefore a number of tactical decisions ought to be taken,” the prime minister told reporters, without disputing the issue is on the agenda.
He noted that both Blinken and Lammy had recently visited Ukraine.
“They’re obviously with us to report into the process on a really important joint trip.”
Speaking earlier in the day, Putin said: “This isn’t about allowing or banning the Kyiv regime from striking Russian territory. It does that already with drones and by other means.
“But when we talk about high-precision, long-range weapons made in the West this is a completely different matter… The Ukrainian army is not able to strike with modern, high-decision, long-range systems. It can’t do this.
“It is only possible with intelligence data from satellites that Ukraine doesn’t have, data that’s only from satellites of the European Union, the USA, Nato satellites.”
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