In a testament to the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is visiting the White House on Friday for the second time in the little more than two months since he was elected. The first meeting was held in parallel with the NATO summit in July. This second meeting with US President Joe Biden will address a “broad agenda,” according to a White House spokesman. Two issues stand out: the war in Gaza and the one in Ukraine. In the first, London has vetoed the sale of certain weapons to Israel and Washington respects this. In the second, the hottest issue is whether to allow Kiev to use Western missiles to hit Russia at a greater distance from its border with Ukraine.
The meeting between the two leaders was preceded by a meeting in kyiv between the heads of diplomacy of both countries and the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky. At the meeting, the Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, and the British Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, showed their support for Ukraine to defend itself, warned about the use of Iranian missiles by Russia and listened to Zelensky’s requests for help.
Ukraine wants permission to use Western long-range missiles to target bases from which Russia launches attacks on its territory. The United States has so far set limits of around 100 kilometres for the use of its weapons, fearing that a longer range would provoke an escalation and a Russian response. However, the recent increase in bombings of Ukrainian cities from longer distances has brought the question back to the fore.
“In just one week, Russia has used more than 800 guided aerial bombs, almost 300 drones and more than 60 missiles of various types against our people,” Zelensky said on the social network X on Sunday. “Terror can only be reliably stopped in one way: by striking Russian military airfields, bases and the logistics of Russian terror. We must achieve this,” he added.
A group of former British and American generals, diplomats and experts called this week in a joint letter for Ukraine to be allowed to use the missiles it already has to hit targets at greater distances. “Iran has stepped up its support for the Russian invasion by providing short-range ballistic missiles to be used against Ukrainian civilians. Ukraine should be able to use Western-supplied weapons to destroy the sites housing these missiles if given the opportunity, along with the more than 200 other identified Russian military and paramilitary targets (…) It is far more profitable to destroy the archer than the arrow,” they say. The issue will be on the table this Friday, as will the issue of Iran’s supply of missiles to Russia, but it is too early to say whether any decision will be made on the matter.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said in announcing the visit that Biden and Starmer “will hold an in-depth discussion on a range of global issues of mutual interest.” She specifically cited “continuing strong support for Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression, achieving a hostage release and ceasefire agreement to end the war in Gaza, protecting international shipping in the Red Sea from threats from the Iran-backed Houthis, and promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
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The British government hopes that Starmer’s visit to Washington and his meeting with President Biden will be “an opportunity for the United Kingdom and the United States to have an in-depth strategic discussion, before going to upcoming international meetings such as the United Nations General Assembly or the G-20 summit,” explained a Downing Street spokesperson.
Starmer believes that the situation in both Ukraine and the Middle East is becoming increasingly tense and demands responses. Although he has already had previous conversations with Biden, both in person and by phone, and they have coordinated their “tactical responses” in both regions, the Prime Minister is confident that this week’s meeting will also serve to coordinate the strategy “on the movements of the coming months.”
The British Prime Minister has tried in recent days to calm tempers and downplay the differences that have arisen between his government and the White House over the British decision to suspend up to 30 arms export licences to Israel. “We have spoken to them before and after taking the decision, and they have always expressed their understanding, which they attribute to the fact that we have different legal systems,” Starmer explained this weekend on the BBC.
Washington, which continues to supply arms to Israel but is also not very happy with the direction taken by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, will not raise any objections. “This is not about arm-twisting or trying to change minds. The British government has made its decision on supplying arms to Israel. We respect that. It is up to them to talk. This is about how we move forward together, as major allies and good friends, on a number of foreign policy issues,” said John Kirby, spokesman for National Security at the White House, at a press conference at the White House.
The meeting comes at the start of Starmer’s term in office, but coincides with the final months of Biden’s presidency, on the eve of an election that could cause a shake-up in international relations if the winner at the polls is former President Donald Trump. According to Jean-Pierre, Biden will underline the importance of “continuing to strengthen the special relationship” between the United States and the United Kingdom.
The prime minister’s team had hoped to hold brief meetings with the two presidential candidates, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris. Although Starmer came to Biden’s defence when voices piled up questioning his physical and mental ability to run for president again, he has not hidden his relief at the last-minute replacement with candidate Harris, although he has maintained scrupulous neutrality with both sides. London has a tradition of not interfering in American politics, in an effort to preserve the “special relationship” that the two countries have had for decades.
The candidates’ agendas, in the midst of campaigning, do not seem compatible with Starmer’s visit and it is unlikely that such meetings will take place.
