Ukraine must be in the “strongest possible position” to defend itself, Downing Street has said when asked whether Britain would follow the US in granting Kyiv permission to strike targets in Russia with allied weapons.
Joe Biden has allowed Ukraine to use US-supplied weapons to strike sites in Russia after months of pressure from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
No 10 would not be drawn on whether the UK would follow suit, but did not rule out allowing Kyiv to use British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.
The UK Government has been reluctant to give Ukraine permission without a shift in US policy, in part because the missiles use American navigation data.
The outgoing US president’s decision could see long-range missiles used initially in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops have launched an incursion into Russian territory and President Vladimir Putin has bolstered his defences with troops from North Korea.
Downing Street said the UK Government wanted to put Ukraine in the “strongest possible position going into the winter to defend its sovereign territory”.
The UK will “double down” to ensure Ukraine is “provided with the support that it needs for as long as it needs”, a No 10 spokeswoman said, though she refused to say whether that would include allowing Storm Shadow missiles to be fired at targets in Russia.
“Our support in Ukraine is ironclad and will continue on that basis. But as to the specifics of the support that we provide … we won’t get into speculation or a commentary on operational discussions.
Sir Keir Starmer with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden (Nadja Wohlleben/PA)
“It also remains the case that no war was ever won with one single piece of kit,” she said.
No 10 also suggested that publicly announcing a change in the UK’s position “would only serve to benefit Putin during an ongoing illegal war”.
Asked if it was fair to say the UK would work in lockstep with the US, the spokeswoman replied: “It has always been the case we work closely with our allies and engage to ensure that strategically we are providing the support that Ukraine needs, and we do that in consultation both with Ukraine and with each other as allies.”
Mr Zelensky has been lobbying western allies for permission to strike targets in Russian territory, arguing that he is effectively being forced to fight with his hands tied because he cannot hit the bases Mr Putin is using to launch air attacks against his country.
Mr Zelensky said “long-range capabilities” are a key part of his “victory plan”.
But Moscow said the move would change the nature of western involvement in the conflict.
An RAF Tornado with two Storm Shadow missiles (Cpl L Matthews/PA)
According to Russia’s Tass news agency, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “If such a decision has indeed been formulated and communicated to the Kyiv regime, then of course this is a qualitatively new round of escalation of tensions and a qualitatively new situation in terms of the involvement of the United States in this conflict.”
Sir Keir Starmer told reporters travelling to the G20 summit in Brazil that support for Ukraine was “top” of his agenda at the gathering of world leaders.
Mr Biden will be at the summit, while Russia will be represented by foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.
The change in the final months of the Biden administration comes as Kyiv and western allies brace for a possible change of US stance under Donald Trump, who has said he could end the war “in a day”.
Earlier this week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke to Mr Putin in what was the Russian leader’s first publicly announced conversation with the sitting head of a major western power in nearly two years.
Asked if he had any plans to make a similar call, Sir Keir said: “It’s a matter for Chancellor Scholz who he speaks to. I have no plans to speak to Putin.”