Starmer and Biden discuss the war in Ukraine at meeting

By Susy Hodges

The talks in Washington between the U.S. and British leaders came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Western nations not to allow Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia with Western supplied long-range missiles. Putin said such a move would alter the nature and scope of the war.

When asked by reporters following his meeting with President Biden if he had persuaded the U.S. leader to allow Ukraine to fire British missiles into Russia, Starmer said they had had a “long and productive discussion” on international issues including Ukraine, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been pleading with allies for months to allow Kyiv to fire long-range missiles deep into Russia to limit Moscow’s ability to attack Ukraine.

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ukrainian cities and front lines have been under daily bombardment from Russia.  Kyiv has argued that long-range missile strikes deep inside Russia are critical for its efforts to restrict Moscow's ability to launch these attacks.

The U.S. provided long-range missiles to Ukraine earlier this year but like Kyiv’s other Western allies these have not been authorised for use on targets inside Russia, for fear of escalating the conflict.

Ahead of Friday’s meeting between President Biden and Keir Starmer, some U.S. media reports said that the United States looked set to approve the use by Ukraine of long-range missiles against targets in Russia on condition that the weapons used were not those provided by the U.S.

Amid the rising tensions over the missile issue and just hours before Biden and Starmer’s meeting in Washington, Russia expelled six British diplomats, accusing them of spying and sabotage work.

Britain described the accusations as "completely baseless", saying it was a tit-for-tat action after London expelled the Russian defence attaché and removed diplomatic status from several Russian properties in May.