(Kyiv) The heads of American and British diplomacy arrived in Ukraine on Wednesday with the agenda of discussing easing the rules for the use of Western weapons against Russia, which is accused of buying ballistic missiles from Iran.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the long train journey from Poland to Kyiv with his British counterpart David Lammy, whose two-month-old Labour government has pledged to remain one of Ukraine’s main supporters.
Their visit comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly demanded weapons with greater firepower and fewer restrictions from the West.
His American counterpart Joe Biden, questioned on this subject in Washington, declared: “We are thinking about it right now.”
The American president, despite his firm support for Ukraine, wants at all costs to avoid a direct conflict between his country and Russia, the world’s two main nuclear powers.
In London on Tuesday, alongside Mr Lammy, Mr Blinken pledged that the United States would provide Ukraine “what it needs, when it needs it, to be as effective as possible in its fight against Russian aggression”.
However, the US secretary, who is making his fifth trip to Kyiv since the invasion began in February 2022, is also keen to verify that Ukrainian forces are able to maintain and use some of the weapons.
Asked whether Washington would give Kyiv the green light for long-range weapons, Blinken told Sky News: “We don’t rule it out, but when we do, we want to make sure it’s done in a way that advances the goals that the Ukrainians are trying to achieve.”
Iranian missile deliveries
Ukraine received some good financial news on Tuesday, when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced an agreement opening the door to a new tranche of $1.1 billion in aid.
But on the military front, Washington has warned of Iran’s delivery of short-range missiles to Russia, which could use them to strike Ukraine in the coming weeks.
These deliveries raise fears that Moscow will then be free to use its long-range missiles against areas of western Ukraine that have so far been relatively unaffected.
The West has announced new sanctions against Tehran following these deliveries.
The United States had authorized Ukraine earlier this year to use Western weapons to strike Russian forces in the event of a direct conflict across the border.
But Kyiv last month launched a surprise offensive into Russian territory towards Kursk, hoping in part to force Moscow to move its troops currently advancing in eastern Ukraine.
According to British media, Mr Biden, who will meet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday, is expected to lift the US veto on Ukraine’s use of long-range Storm Shadow missiles against Russia.
London is pushing the United States, which is by far Ukraine’s largest military supplier, to show greater flexibility in the use of its weaponry.
One of Ukraine’s main demands is to ease restrictions on the US ATACMS tactical missile systems, which can hit targets up to 300 kilometers away.
In a joint letter to Mr Biden, top Republican members of Congress called on him to act immediately.
Russia must not be allowed to “commit its war crimes against Ukraine with impunity,” said the letter, signed by Mike McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Republicans are deeply divided over Ukraine, however, and a victory in November’s presidential election by their candidate Donald Trump over Kamala Harris, Joe Biden’s political heir apparent, could radically alter U.S. foreign policy.
Trump aides have suggested that if he wins, he would use the aid to force Kyiv to make territorial concessions to Russia to end the war.