Keir Starmer delivered a fresh hint at a shift on Ukraine using long-range missiles against Vladimir Putin Monday.
The PM insisted Nato countries should put Kyiv ‘in the best possible position’ amid rising speculation that Storm Shadow weapons will be signed off for strikes on Russia.
THE MEETING
Sir Keir met Joe Biden in in the White House for talks on the issue last week, and discussed it with Italian premier Giorgia Meloni in Rome Tuesday.
Last year, the UK donated Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine, but the weapons remain off limits beyond Ukraine’s borders despite repeated requests from Volodymyr Zelensky.
THE WARNING
At a joint press conference with Ms Meloni, Sir Keir was asked about Putin’s warning that allowing long-range strikes ‘would mean that Nato countries, the United States, and European countries are at war with Russia’.
Sir Keir said: ‘I think it is important for us to start from the fundamental position, which is that this is an illegal war started by Russia and, as a result, Ukraine has the right to self defence, and we have all – Italy, the UK and other allies, Nato allies in particular – been standing with Ukraine.’
KEIR STARMER SAID MORE
He added: ‘It’s a war against the values of democracy, of freedom and the rule of law, which apply to all of us in our respective countries, but across all of the allies.
‘That is why we’ve supplied capability, we’ve supplied training, we’ve supplied money, and there are further commitments to be made recently in relation to all of those.
‘I think it’s very important as a matter of principle that we put Ukraine in the best possible position, and that’s what we’ve been discussing. We’ve had the opportunity Tuesday to touch on that.
‘I had the opportunity in recent days to touch on that. I’m not going to go into individual capabilities. You wouldn’t expect me to do that, but the principle framework, I think, is absolutely right, and we’ll continue to have our discussions in relation to it.’
