Macron and Starmer hold one-on-one talks about Ukraine

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have held a private conversation about the situation in Ukraine.

As reported by The Telegraph, the discussion lasted 20 minutes. Starmer and Macron spoke face-to-face, without the involvement of a large delegation of aides.

"The leaders started by discussing the situation in Ukraine, including how best to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position going into the winter," UK government spokesperson said.

The Telegraph noted that Starmer became the first UK Prime Minister in 80 years to attend Jour du Souvenir (the French name for Remembrance Day) events in Paris, including the ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe.

The two leaders also discussed the potential shift in the US stance regarding the Storm Shadow missile. These missiles are produced by the UK and France but could be deployed using US systems. 

Ukraine has permission to use them for strikes near the Russian border, but not far beyond it.

"We’ve always said that where we discuss our support for Ukraine, we do so in terms of broader strategy to ensure that Ukraine is in the strongest possible position going forwards," Starmer stated after the meeting with Macron, responding to questions about the Storm Shadow.

"It has been my constant refrain for four months now, since I’ve been Prime Minister, in all the discussions that I’ve had. That is the heart of the discussions that we’ve been having," Starmer said.

He declined to provide details about any discussions on military operational matters.

Before the meeting, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron announced that they would try to convince US President Joe Biden to allow Ukraine to launch Storm Shadow missiles against targets deep in Russian territory.

The White House said earlier that Joe Biden will be talking about the need to support Ukraine until the end of his presidential term against the backdrop of the arrival of the Donald Trump administration.

Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, confirmed that the administration would seek to use all resources allocated by Congress for military support for Ukraine before the end of its term.