British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has reportedly held off on providing long-range missiles to Kiev
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer at a NATO Summit, Washington DC, US, July 11, 2024 © Getty Images / Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto Ukrainian officials have stated that the relationship between London and Kiev has deteriorated since the new Labour government has so far failed to deliver long-range missiles, the Guardian reported on Friday, citing anonymous sources. Kiev is growing increasingly “unhappy” as Russian armed forces gain ground in the Donbass at a rate unseen since 2022, the newspaper noted. Additionally, the reelection of Ukraine conflict skeptic Donald Trump in the US has raised concerns about long-term military support from Kiev’s biggest sponsor. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has not yet visited Ukraine four months after assuming office. A senior official in Kiev indicated that such a trip would be meaningless unless the British leader committed to providing more Storm Shadow missiles, according to the Guardian. “There’s no point in his coming as a tourist,” the senior official reportedly said.
“It isn’t happening. Starmer isn’t giving us long-range weapons. The situation is not the same as when Rishi Sunak was prime minister. The relationship has worsened,” the Guardian cited the official as saying. Long-range weapons and permission to use them to strike deeper into Russian territory were key points in Vladimir Zelensky’s so-called “victory plan,” which he presented to Western sponsors last month. Moscow has denounced the document as “schizophrenic,” stressing that its goal is “to drag the West into a direct military confrontation with Russia.” In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed changes to the country’s nuclear doctrine. The amendments allow Moscow to treat an attack by a non-nuclear nation backed by a nuclear state as a joint attack on Russia when deciding on a retaliatory response. A long-range Ukrainian strike with weapons such as ATACMS or Storm Shadow could potentially be viewed as such a joint attack.
NATO officers are already directly involved in the use of high-tech weapons like British Storm Shadow or US-supplied ATACMS missiles by Kiev, Putin said last month. He later expressed hope that Kiev’s Western backers “heard” the warning. The US has also limited the supply of ATACMS to Kiev, with the Pentagon noting that further deliveries of the missiles hold little strategic value for Ukraine, as few Russian targets remain within their range that Moscow has not moved out of danger.
