Biden, Starmer to meet in DC, discuss wars in Ukraine and Gaza
Kyiv’s desire to use some weapons to strike deeper into Russia likely to top leaders’ agenda
US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet in Washington on Friday to discuss the Ukrainian military potentially striking deeper inside Russia than it has so far, as the two Western leaders also seek to emphasize the nexus between the war in Ukraine and the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Starmer said he was visiting Washington for “strategic meetings to discuss Ukraine and to discuss the Middle East.” It will be the prime minister’s second meeting with Biden since his center-left government was elected in July.
The meeting comes after Britain last week diverged from the US by suspending some arms exports to Israel, citing a risk they could be used to break international law.
Biden and Starmer’s meeting also comes before this month’s annual meeting of global leaders at the United Nations General Assembly.
The two leaders will compare notes on the war in Ukraine, which began when Russia invaded the country in 2022, and the war between Israel and the Hamas terror group as well as other Iranian proxies, which began when Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251.
The White House has sought in recent days to put a greater emphasis on the nexus between the war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East.
The Biden administration said this week that Iran recently delivered short-range ballistic weapons to Russia to use against Ukraine, a transfer that White House officials worry will allow Russia to use more of its arsenal for targets far beyond the Ukrainian front line while employing Iranian warheads for closer-range targets.
In turn, the US administration says Russia has been tightening its relationship with Iran, including by providing it with nuclear and space technology.
“This is obviously deeply concerning,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said of the missile transfer. “And it certainly speaks to the manner in which this partnership threatens European security and how it illustrates Iran’s destabilizing influence now reaches well beyond the Middle East.”
Expected at the top of the leaders’ agenda, however, is Ukraine’s desire to use some weapons to strike deeper into Russia than it has thus far. There are signs Biden might shift US policy in response to such a strategy. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons would put NATO at war with Moscow.
Despite the issue’s importance, it appeared unlikely that Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer would announce any policy changes during this week’s visit, according to two US officials familiar with planning for the leaders’ talks. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the private deliberations.
Ukrainian officials renewed their pleas to use Western-provided long-range missiles against targets deeper inside Russia during this week’s visit to Kyiv by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
Blinken said he had “no doubt” that Biden and Starmer would discuss the matter during their visit, noting the US has adapted and “will adjust as necessary” as Russia’s battlefield strategy has changed.
Blinken spoke similarly in May, shortly before the US allowed Ukraine to use US-provided weapons just inside Russian territory. The permitted distance has been largely limited to cross-border targets deemed a direct threat, out of concerns about further escalating the conflict.
In addition to Blinken, Biden also has hinted a change could be afoot. In an exchange with reporters this week about whether he was ready to ease weapons restrictions on Ukraine, he responded, “We’re working that out now.”
Putin warned Thursday that allowing long-range strikes “would mean that NATO countries, the United States and European countries are at war with Russia… 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.”
His remarks were in line with the narrative the Kremlin has promoted since early in the Ukraine war, accusing NATO countries of de facto participation in the conflict and threatening a response.
Earlier in the year, Putin warned that Russia could provide long-range weapons to others to strike Western targets in response to NATO allies allowing Ukraine to use their arms to attack Russian territory, saying it “would mark their direct involvement in the war against the Russian Federation, and we reserve the right to act the same way.”
Starmer, in response to the Russian leader’s comments Thursday, said on his way to the US that Britain does not seek any conflict with Russia.
“Russia started this conflict,” Starmer told reporters. “Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Russia could end this conflict straight away.”
He added: “Ukraine has the right to self-defense and we’ve obviously been absolutely fully supportive of Ukraine’s right to self-defense — we’re providing training capability, as you know.”
“But we don’t seek any conflict with Russia — that’s not our intention in the slightest,” Starmer said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has pressed US and allied military leaders to go much further. He argues that the US must allow Ukraine to target Russian air bases and launch sites far from the border as Russia has stepped up assaults on Ukraine’s electricity grid and utilities before the winter.
Zelensky also wants more long-range weaponry from the United States, including the Army Tactical Missile System for strikes in Russia.
ATACMS wouldn’t be the answer to the main threat Ukraine faces from long-range Russian glide bombs, which are being fired from more than 300 kilometers (185 miles) away, beyond the ATACMS’ reach, said Lt. Col. Charlie Dietz, Pentagon spokesperson.
American officials also don’t believe they have enough of the weapon systems available to provide Ukraine with the number to make a substantive difference to conditions on the ground, one of the US officials said.
During a meeting of allied defense ministers last week, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he did not believe providing Ukraine with long-range weapon systems would be a game-changer in the grueling war. He noted that Ukraine has already been able to strike inside Russia with its own internally produced systems, including drones.
“I don’t believe one capability is going to be decisive, and I stand by that comment,” Austin said.
“As of right now, the policy has not changed,” Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said Thursday.
