British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s second visit to the White House in just over two months ended without any flashy announcements. Starmer and US President Joe Biden gave a quick rundown of a broad foreign policy agenda, with the wars in Ukraine and Gaza as the main topics. There was one particularly sensitive and relevant issue to discuss: the use by the Kiev government of long-range Western missiles on Russian territory. Biden and Starmer “reaffirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine,” according to the White House summary statement of the meeting, which did not mention anything about the missiles. However, at the start of the meeting, Biden rejected the Russian threats.
The possibility that restrictions on kyiv, which now prevent it from hitting targets more than 100 kilometres from the border, might be lifted, has put Moscow on alert. Indeed, Russian state media reported a message from President Vladimir Putin that a supposed authorisation for the use of these missiles without these restrictions would mean that NATO countries, including the United States, would be at war with Russia. In another gesture of hostility and warning, Moscow expelled six British diplomats on Friday.
At the start of Friday’s meeting at the White House, Biden was asked about these threats from the Russian president. “I don’t think too much about Putin,” Biden replied.
The meeting, however, ended without any announcement. That does not mean that Biden and Starmer have not made progress on the issue. They were expected to discuss the terms under which London could authorize Kiev to use its Storm Shadow missiles inside Russia. These guided missiles require data from US satellites and other technologies, so the British prime minister needs the support of his American partner.
Before the meeting, the two leaders had already made an effort to appear aligned. “I have often said that there is no issue of global significance that the United States and the United Kingdom cannot work together on and have not already worked on,” Biden began, before moving on to talk specifically about Ukraine: “I want to thank the United Kingdom for its leadership on this front. The United States is committed to standing with you to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression. It is clear that Putin will not prevail in this war. The people of Ukraine will prevail,” he added.
Starmer stressed that both countries are great allies, with a “special relationship”. On Ukraine, he said: “I think the next few weeks and months could be crucial. It is very, very important that we support Ukraine in this vital war for freedom.” In the statement, the leaders expressed their “deep concern” about the supply of lethal weapons to Russia by Iran and North Korea and about China’s support for Russia’s defence industrial base.
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The Middle East was also on the table. According to the White House, both reiterated their “strong commitment to Israel’s security, the urgent need for a ceasefire agreement that would free hostages and allow for increased aid in Gaza, and the need for Israel to do more to protect civilians and address the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.” They also condemned attacks by the Houthis, supported by Iran, against commercial shipping in the Red Sea. They also discussed the Indo-Pacific, where both countries have the Aukus partnership with Australia.
Starmer stressed that the two countries are “strategically aligned”. “We have a common cause on these global issues and so it is very important for us to have this opportunity to talk about them and the broader strategy that underpins them,” he added.
Hours before the meeting, White House national security spokesman John Kirby had tried to lower expectations. “I don’t expect any announcements to come out of today’s meeting on that front. There has been no change in our policy with respect to long-range strike capability inside Russia,” he said on a call with reporters. He repeated the idea over and over again.
Earlier on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had again insisted that Ukraine needs to be able to attack military targets located inside the Russian Federation in order to turn the tide of the war in its favour. “Anyone who sees on the map where Russia launches its attacks, where it trains its troops, maintains its reserves and places its military infrastructure clearly understands why Ukraine needs long-distance capabilities,” Zelensky said during a security forum held in kyiv, Efe reports from the Ukrainian capital.
The Ukrainian head of state recalled that he had conveyed this argument in detail to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy during his visit to kyiv on Wednesday. “After our conversation, I think there are no unanswered questions about why Ukraine needs sufficient long-range capabilities,” Zelensky added.
The president stressed the importance of obtaining permission to use them inside Russia, as well as receiving enough such weapons “to really change the course of the war and force Russia to seek peace.”
“When we ask for these systems, we repeatedly hear ‘we are working on it,’” Zelensky said at the forum. “Time passes, but Russian missiles and Iranian drones continue to spread terror in our skies and among our people.”
Biden criticizes Trump’s attacks on immigrants: “This has to stop”
Before meeting British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, US President Joe Biden held an event at the White House on Black excellence. There, he responded to Donald Trump’s recent attacks on immigrants, particularly those in Springfield, Ohio, who are mostly of Haitian origin. The former president had spread a baseless lie against Kamala Harris in the debate, according to which immigrants “eat people’s dogs, eat people’s cats, eat people’s pets,” a claim that has gone viral because of its absurdity.
“I want to take a moment today to say something,” she began, before quoting White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre, “a proud Haitian American, a community that is under attack in our country right now. It is simply wrong. There is no place in America [para esto]. This has to stop, what you are doing [Trump]”It has to stop,” the president said, indignant.
Republicans, led by vice presidential candidate JD Vance, have also seized on a traffic accident in the city in which a van driven by a Haitian immigrant killed an 11-year-old boy. The political exploitation of the case has disgusted the boy’s parents, who earlier this week asked Republicans to please stop using their tragedy for political purposes. “I wish my son had been run over by a 60-year-old white man,” said the father, because then they would have left him alone.
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