Putin: “NATO at war with Moscow with long-range weapons”
US President Joe Biden is likely to say yes to Ukraine using long-range missiles to reach Russia. Biden has not yet made a final decision. The news comes just days after the arrival in Washington of the new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The United Kingdom has already expressed to the United States its intention to give Ukraine the green light to use “Storm Shadow” missiles.
The news published by New York Times arrives a few hours fromyet another threat from Vladimir Putin. The Russian president, in a speech at the International Forum of United Cultures in St. Petersburg, said that in the event of supplies of long-range weapons to Ukraine, NATO countries would be “at war with Russia”.
If the West gives Kiev the green light to use long-range weapons to strike Russian targets, Putin told a state TV reporter, “this would significantly change the very nature of the conflict.”
Ukraine, Starmer in US: “Putin started war and can stop it”
It was Vladimir Putin who started the war in Ukraine, and He is the one who can put an end to it at any time: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said this in reaction to the Russian president’s statements yesterday, who spoke of “war between NATO and Russia” if the Western allies give Kiev the green light to use long-range weapons on Russian soil. As reported by Guardian, Starmer spoke to journalists during his trip to the US, where he is scheduled to meet President Joe Biden today, pending a decision on whether to allow Ukraine to attack Russia with British-made Storm Shadow missiles. “Russia started this conflict. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Russia can end this conflict immediately. Ukraine has the right to self-defense,” he said.
The United Kingdom, he added, has provided “training and skills”, that is, weapons, but “there are obviously further discussions to be had about the nature of that capability.” According to reports published yesterday by the Guardian itself, the United States and the United Kingdom have agreed, along with other allies, to allow Ukraine to strike military targets inside Russia with Storm Shadow missiles, which have a range of at least 190 miles, at Kiev’s request: hence Putin’s harsh reaction.
No press conference is planned after Biden and Starmer’s meeting in Washington, which is expected to last about three hours; any initial announcement of Storm Shadow’s use inside Russia would only be expected if a missile strike were to be carried out, the British newspaper notes: its impact would be too obvious to be hidden. During the flight, Starmer stressed that the purpose of the trip was to have “a strategic discussion” on Ukraine, Gaza and other foreign policy issues, but not to force a peace deal with Ukraine. “Ultimately, this is a discussion that needs to be led by President Zelensky,” Starmer said.
Instead, he said, “it’s very important that two key allies” discuss foreign policy issues “with each other and have space to do that.” The prime minister will first have a brief one-on-one meeting with the president before moving on to a broader meeting with Foreign Secretary David Lammy and other key officials, British Ambassador to the United States Karen Pierce and National Security Advisor Tim Barrow. There are no plans to meet with Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, who is away on campaign stops in swing states.
#Biden #LongRange #Missiles #Ukraine #Strike #Russian #Sites #Putins #Wrath