British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has arrived in Washington where he will meet US President Joe Biden on Friday to discuss whether to let Kyiv use long-range missiles against Russia.
It is likely their last meeting before an election that could upend US policy on Ukraine.
Kyiv is pushing Washington and London to lift a restriction on firing arms made by those countries, with Russian President Vladimir Putin warning that giving Ukraine the green light would mean NATO was “at war” with Moscow.
British media reported that Biden, who is wary of provoking a nuclear conflict, was ready to let Ukraine deploy British and French missiles using US technology but not US-made missiles themselves.
The talks come at a time when Biden is on his way out of office and November’s US election is a toss-up between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump.
Trump repeatedly refused to take sides on the war during a debate with Harris on Tuesday, saying only, “I want the war to stop.”
Starmer is set to meet Biden in the Oval Office at 4:30 PM (20:30 GMT) but has no scheduled meetings at this stage with Trump or Harris, both of whom will be on the campaign trail on Friday.
His visit – his second to Washington since his Labor party stormed to victory in July after 14 years – is also aimed at papering over differences on the war in Gaza.
Starmer’s government announced restrictions last week on some weapons to Israel, voicing concern that they could be used to violate international humanitarian law.
The White House has declined to criticize Britain’s decision, but Politico reported that Washington had asked London what it would take to change its decision – with the answer being a ceasefire in Gaza.
‘War With Russia’
Ukraine will be the main focus, amid mounting concerns over the country’s losses on the battlefield more than two-and-a-half years into the war.
Biden said on Tuesday that he was “working” on Ukraine’s demands, while top US and British diplomats Antony Blinken and David Lammy made a rare joint visit to Kyiv on Wednesday.
But Putin, who has rattled the saber of nuclear conflict since the start of his February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, warned the United States and United Kingdom against such a move.
Biden has strongly supported Ukraine since Russia’s invasion to the tune of billions of dollars in aid as well as political capital at home.
But he has been risk-averse about stepping up to new kinds of weaponry deliveries – with Ukraine having to wait until this year to get F-16 jets.
Danny Kemp, with AFP
