WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met Friday to discuss Ukraine’s request to use British-supplied missiles against targets in Russian territory, while dismissing threats from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Asked what he thought about Putin’s comments saying such actions would put NATO countries “at war with Russia,” the U.S. president told reporters: “I don’t think much of Vladimir Putin.”
Asked when he would be ready to allow Ukraine to fire missiles deep into Russia, Biden added: “We’ll be discussing that now.”
After the meeting, Starmer said no final decision had been made on the Storm Shadow missile and suggested further developments could follow at the UN General Assembly later this month. “We will be back at the UN General Assembly in a few days with more individuals,” he said.
Starmer insisted that “this was not a meeting about specific capabilities” but added that “we have come to a strong position”. He denied that the focus over the “next few weeks and months” was on securing a strategy on Ukraine ahead of the US. bloodResidential elections and Potential It’s a victory for Donald Trump, who called Putin a “genius.”
“No, if you look at the situation in Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East, it’s clear that there are potential developments that are really important, regardless of what happens in other countries in the coming weeks and months,” he said.
The two leaders met one-on-one in the Oval Office for about 20 minutes before a longer group meeting with aides on strategic challenges including Ukraine and the Middle East. The British prime minister did not rule out allowing Ukraine to use Storm Shadow missiles despite Putin’s threats. “Russia started this conflict. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Russia can end this conflict right now,” he told reporters on Thursday.
Officials on both sides of the Atlantic repeatedly stressed that there would be no moment of decision on the Storm Shadow missile at Friday’s meeting. “I wouldn’t expect an announcement today on a long-range strike capability inside Russia,” said John Kirby, the White House national security communications adviser. “There is no change in our policy on that.”
That hasn’t stopped Russia and Ukraine from putting pressure on Britain and the United States, which are already fearing an escalation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X Friday: “It’s hard to hear over and over again that ‘we are solving this problem’ while Putin continues to burn our cities and towns.”
Meanwhile, Moscow said on Friday it had expelled six British diplomats, accusing them of spying. Britain called the accusations “baseless” and said the diplomats had been removed from their posts in August, before the current conflict erupted.
On Friday afternoon, the U.S. State Department announced new sanctions against Russian state-run broadcaster RT.
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met Zelensky in Kiev on Friday and pressed him, urging Britain and the United States to allow Ukraine to use the two countries’ long-range missiles, Storm Shadow, Scalp and ATACMS, against targets on Russian soil. “Every day that passes, more Ukrainian lives are senselessly and tragically lost,” Johnson added.
Former British Conservative Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said the Biden-Starmer meeting “must have one outcome: if Russia continues its aggression against Ukraine in the region, Ukraine should be able to attack from within Russia using Storm Shadow.”
Because the use of the Storm Shadow missile relies in part on U.S. technology, officials see Biden’s approval as essential to the process.
But the main reason for wanting to align is diplomacy. Two British government officials, who were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive issues, told POLITICO they wanted to avoid giving the impression that the two allies were at odds.
The two officials also expressed doubts that the use of Storm Shadow missiles could turn the tide of the war, despite Zelensky saying that if used in sufficient quantities, the missiles could “truly turn the tide of the war.”
Starmer met with defense and aerospace representatives at the British Embassy in Washington on Friday, but the meeting was not related to missiles, a Number 10 spokesperson told POLITICO.
The meeting with Biden was followed by a 90-minute formal summit with Foreign Secretary David Lammy and his aides, National Security Adviser Tim Barrow, British Ambassador Karen Pierce, Senior Adviser Sue Gray and Communications Director Matthew Doyle.
“I think the coming weeks and months could be crucial. It is very, very important that we support Ukraine in this important battle for freedom,” the British prime minister said at the start of the meeting.
Starmer has been actively pursuing a broad strategic meeting with Biden since meeting him at the NATO summit in July, his first week in office.
The British prime minister had hoped to meet with both presidential candidates during his visit to Washington, but they were away on the campaign trail. He has spoken to Donald Trump once since the assassination attempt, but Starmer told reporters he has yet to speak to Vice President Kamala Harris, his opponent in the November race for the White House.
