British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the President of US Joe Biden discussed the possibility of Ukraine using Western-supplied long-range missiles against Russia, but made no official announcements about it after their meeting held at the White House on Friday, notes the British "Guardian".< /p>
The question of what the two leaders decided was left hanging after Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier threatened that such an authorization would be considered direct NATO involvement in the conflict. The British prime minister told reporters at the White House that he and the US president had "discussed strategy in detail," but stressed that the topic of the meeting was not to discuss "specific options".
Just before the meeting, officials said Starmer would press Biden to support his plan to allow Kiev to use British Storm Shadow missiles. against Russia. However, the British Prime Minister announced that he and Biden will discuss the plan at the UN General Assembly in New York next week “with a wider range of people”.
Biden, for his part, dismissed Vladimir Putin's threats and resisted the Russian president's gun-rattling, saying he disagreed with his claim that the use of the "Storm Shadow" of Ukraine's armed forces against Russia would mean war between NATO and Moscow. "I don't really think much of Vladimir Putin," Biden added.
Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, told the UN Security Council on Friday that if Western countries allow Ukraine to carry out strikes deep into Russian territory, then NATO countries "will be waging a direct war with Russia." reported Reuters.
"If the decision to lift the restrictions [on the use of long-range missiles] has really been taken or will be taken, it will mean that from that moment NATO countries start a direct war with Russia. In this case, of course, we will be forced to take appropriate decisions with all the consequences for the Western aggressors. Our Western colleagues will not be able to avoid responsibility and shift the blame to Kiev”, said Nebenzya.
Representatives of Washington have accused Putin of trying to intimidate NATO countries into not supporting Ukraine, notes "Politico". European leaders also rejected the Russian president's threats. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said: "I would not attach too much importance to President Putin's latest statements. On the contrary: they rather reveal the difficult situation in which the Russians found themselves at the front."
Before "Politico" two British officials, who wished to remain anonymous, expressed doubt, however, that the use of the missiles "Storm Shadow" will change the course of the war, although Volodymyr Zelensky insists it would lead to significant gains for Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian president announced that the incursion of Ukrainian armed forces into Russia's border Kursk region had the desired effect, slowing Moscow's progress on the other front - in eastern Ukraine. On Friday, he indicated that Russia's counterattack in the Kursk region had not brought Moscow much success. This contradicts the Kremlin's claims of success on both fronts. Zelensky said Russia has 40,000 troops concentrated on the Kursk front. "We haven't seen any serious Russian successes yet," he added. The Russian Defense Ministry, for its part, said on Friday that Moscow troops had regained control of ten villages previously occupied by Kiev. The information on the development of events there cannot be verified through independent sources, Western media emphasize.
Meanwhile, the second largest arms supplier to Ukraine – Germany – continued to refuse to provide Kiev with "Taurus" missiles, the range of which is 500 km, the Associated Press reported. Chancellor Olaf Scholz defended his refusal to send such cruise missiles to Ukraine, telling German lawmakers on Wednesday that prudence was not weakness.
Sholz has been resisting Ukraine's demands for "Taurus" missiles for months, which, due to their long range, can be used against targets far into Russian territory.
This position disappointed the main center-right opposition bloc (CDU/CSU) and parts of Scholz's tripartite governing coalition. Criticism did not abate after Scholz finally offered a detailed explanation last month, stating that Germany should not become directly involved in the war.
As part of coordinated actions on the Russian side, a publication on the Telegram platform on Friday by the Speaker of the State Duma of Russia, Vyacheslav Volodin, sounded. He accused NATO of being heavily involved in military decision-making in Ukraine. In the post on his official channel, Volodin accused the North Atlantic Treaty Organization of helping Ukraine choose which Russian cities to attack, giving instructions to Kiev and agreeing on certain military actions. Volodin, however, did not provide any evidence to support his claims, pointed to the "Frankfurter Rundschau".
Zelensky's peace plan
A week ago the Ukrainian president said he has a plan for a ceasefire and I'm going to show it to Joe Biden, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. He stated this during an interview with Italian media given in Cernobbio, in northern Italy, where he participated in the annual "Ambrosetti" forum, RAI News, ANSA and "Republika" reported. Zelensky expressed hope that he will be able to present his plan to American representatives by November.
"I hope that I will have the opportunity to show this plan to Biden and the candidates for the presidency of the United States - Harris and Trump, and get feedback and opinions about it,", says the president of Ukraine.
He noted that so far he has not shared anything about the plan with anyone. "The first contact will be with Biden. In the plan, we talk not only about weapons, but also about important global issues. In short, we are talking about a specific package of defense measures. And if we have it, it will be a strong deterrent for Russia and to end the war under the terms of diplomacy," he also stated.
Zelensky added that he wants to show the plan to the current president of the United States, because there are some points in it that depend on America.
On Saturday, on CNN, Zelensky reiterated his intention to share the plan with both Biden and Harris and Trump. Since many things depend on the decisions of the US Congress, the "plan for victory" it should also be presented to the Congress, the Ukrainian head of state pointed out. "After these steps, we are ready to share it with the people," added the president.
He said he had no idea what Trump meant when he said he was ready to end the war within days if elected US president. Trump emphasized that he achieved an end to the war even before he took office after his eventual election. The US election is on November 5.
Decision on missiles to be announced
UK officials have said they hope a decision on Ukraine's use of long-range missiles will be confirmed at the UN General Assembly later this month, when world leaders including Biden and Starmer will gather in New York, noted "Politico".
Western officials say the settlement, if agreed, would not in itself change the course of the war, but they are increasingly open to Ukraine's pleas that it would help Kiev halt the advance of Russian troops in the east front in recent months.
How Moscow will react in case of a positive decision regarding the missiles remains to be seen.
Russia's verbal signals to the West about the danger of escalation have no effect, which means that it is necessary to "change the nature of signaling," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told TASS. He added that Moscow knows the West has made a decision on whether to allow Ukraine to attack Russia with long-range missiles and has informed Kiev, but did not specify what the decision was.
So it remains to be seen what will emerge from the meeting of Western leaders in the framework of the UN General Assembly.