UK PM comments on Putin's scaremongering about NATO's involvement in war: Russia started this conflict
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has stressed that Russia is the aggressor and Ukraine has the right to defend itself, responding to Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s remarks. Putin claimed that any use of UK-supplied long-range missiles on Russian territory by Ukrainian forces would lead to NATO's involvement in the Russo-Ukrainian war.
"Russia started this conflict [war – ed.]. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Russia can end this conflict straight away. Ukraine has the right to self-defence," Starmer said, as quoted by The Guardian.
Starmer was speaking to reporters on his way to the US, where he is to meet with President Joe Biden and where the two sides are expected to discuss the restrictions on Ukraine's long-range strikes against targets in Russia.
He added that the UK has provided "training and capability" to help Ukraine repel the Russian invasion and said he was visiting the US president in part because "there are obviously further discussions to be had about the nature of that capability".
Starmer said he would not comment directly on authorising Ukraine to strike Russia with British Storm Shadow long-range missiles but added that he wanted to ensure that "all the decisions we made are within the strategic context".
"There are really important developments likely in the next few weeks and months, both in Ukraine and the Middle East, and therefore a number of tactical decisions ought to be taken," Starmer concluded.
A day earlier, The Guardian reported that the United States and the United Kingdom had agreed, along with other allies, to allow Ukraine to strike military targets in Russia with Storm Shadow missiles, a long-standing demand from Kyiv.
On 12 September, Putin stressed that any move by the West to allow Kyiv to use such long-range weapons against targets in Russia would draw NATO into the war with Russia, a sharp escalation of his rhetoric on the war.
Politico reported that the White House was finalising a plan to ease restrictions on Ukraine's use of US-supplied weapons to strike Russian territory.