US ‘won’t rule out’ letting Ukraine use Western missiles
As Kyiv launches biggest drone blitz on Moscow...
PRESIDENT Joe Biden is ‘not ruling out’ allowing Ukraine to fire foreign-made missiles deep into Russia, the US said last night.
The American move came as David Lammy and the US secretary of state Antony Blinken, met in London amid pressure to let Kyiv use Western longrange weapons.
Asked about the West’s stance on missiles, Mr Blinken said: ‘We never rule out.
‘But when we rule in, we want to make sure it’s done in such a way that it can advance what the Ukrainians are trying to achieve.’
Mr Lammy will make a rare joint trip to Ukraine with his US counterpart this week. The Foreign Secretary will travel to the wartorn
country on a ‘hugely important’ visit to hear what is needed on the ground. Talks between the two men at the Foreign Office followed one of the largest Ukrainian drone attacks on mainland Russia in the conflict so far.
Kremlin officials claimed they intercepted 144 Ukrainian drones directed towards Moscow and other major cities. One woman was apparently killed and three
people injured as residential buildings caught fire. A further 43 people were evacuated.
On the joint trip to Ukraine, Mr Lammy and Mr Blinken will listen to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s call for permission to use Western long-range weapons – such as Storm Shadow missiles – to strike at targets within Russia. Mr Lammy yesterday refused to be drawn on the subject, saying it would be ‘quite wrong to comment on the detail of operational issues’. At a press conference alongside Mr Blinken he said that commenting could benefit Vladimir Putin and ‘we will do nothing to give him any advantage in his illegal invasion’.
Mr Blinken said one of the ‘purposes’ of the trip to Kyiv would be to hear from Mr Zelensky ‘about... what we can do to support [the country’s] needs’. Following the drone attack in Russia yesterday, flights to and from Moscow airports were suspended. While no strategically valuable targets were hit, the Ukrainian air assault offered further proof of the country’s ability to strike far inside Russia.
Ukraine has been explicit about its motivation to bring the war to the Russian people.