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Keir Starmer says ‘we need to double down’ on support for Ukraine
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Washington is throwing “oil on the fire” by allowing Ukraine to use US-made long-range missiles to target Russian territory, the Kremlin has said.
Condemning president Joe Biden’s decision, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reiterated earlier warnings from Russian president Vladimir Putin saying that any strikes on Russian soil using US weapons would be interpreted as direct Nato involvement.
In response to a question from Tass at his regular press briefing, Mr Peskov said Russia was only aware of the apparent decision by the Biden administration from reporting in western media.
He accused the US of fanning the flames of conflict, as tensions rise with reports of North Korea deploying troops to assist Russia.
Speaking on Monday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un did not reference Mr Biden’s decisions but denounced Western involvement in Ukraine and warned of the potential for “World War III.”
It follows warnings on Sunday and Monday by Russian MPs that the Biden administration’s decision risked triggering a world war.
The US authorisation came as Keir Starmer urged “doubling down” on support for Ukraine, putting it high on the agenda for this week’s G20 summit.
Ukranian president Volodymur Zelensky has condemned Monday’s Russian strike on Odesa, which has killed at least eight people, including one child.
Mr Zelensky said the only way to “stop this terror” was to elimnate Russia’s ability to launch attacks, following US president Joe Biden’s decision to let Ukraine strike targets inside Russia with US-supplied long-range missiles. In a statement posted to X, Mr Zelensky added: “Today, Russia struck Odesa with a missile—deliberately targeting a residential area.
“As a result of this barbaric act, innocent lives were lost, and many people were injured—lives that could have been saved if we had the capability to destroy Russian launch systems, supply chains, arsenals, and war factories at their source.
“It is not just defense; it is justice—the right way to protect our people. Any nation under the attack would act this way to defend its citizens. We must do the same, together with our partners. Russia must be left with no capacity for terror. The time to act is now.”
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, intends to put up a new “peace deal” for the war in Ukraine that would postpone Kyiv’s accession to Nato for ten years and freeze the fighting along the present lines.
Bloomberg quoted Turkish officials at the G20 conference in Rio de Janeiro as saying that Mr Erdogan wants to establish a demilitarised zone in the Donbas region that is patrolled by “international troops.”
Officials from Ukraine have consistently stated that they will not accept a peace agreement that cedes Ukrainian land.
Since Rusaia invaded Ukraine, Mr Erdogan has been among the few heads of a Nato member state to keep in touch with the Kremlin.
In April 2022, unsuccessful peace negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow were held in Turkey.
Andrzej Duda, the president of Poland, said Monday that a US decision to permit Ukraine to deploy American-made weaponry to launch an attack deep into Russia might be a turning point in the conflict.
“This decision was very necessary … Russia sees that Ukraine enjoys strong support and that the West’s position is unyielding and determined. It’s a very important, potentially decisive moment in this war,” Duda told journalists.
He also expressed disdain for German chancellor Olaf Scholz’s phone conversation with Russian president Vladimir Putin last Friday and attacked Germany for stating that it would not align its strategy with the United States.
“Germany may be looking for opportunities, as the German press indicates, to reach some agreement with Russia in order to return to energy contracts and to be able to buy energy resources from Russia again,” Duda said.
“Russia is brutally attacking Ukraine, and one of the leaders of the free world, one of the leaders of the West, a large European country, the strongest economy in Europe, is in talks with the aggressor. I absolutely believe that it was a mistake on the international political front.”
A Russian missile attack has killed at least 8 people and injured 18 in Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa on Monday, local governor Oleh Kiper said.
One child is among the victims while four people are in serious condition, Kiper said on the Telegram messenger.
A former US special representative for Ukraine negotiations has said North Korean troops sent to support Russia in the war is “fairly minor.”
Kurt Volker was asked about the recent deployment on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme and said this is a “fairly minor thing” given all the support North Korea has provided Russia.
He noted that most of Russia’s artillery munitions have come from North Korea.
He said: “Russia burns through anywhere from 1200-1500 troops a day, so 12,000 North Korean troops will replace 12,000 Russian soldiers in a couple of weeks.”
Former defence secretary Ben Wallace has added to the criticism of Olaf Scholz’s call with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Mr Wallace said Mr Scholz made the West look weak and “emboldened” Russia. He said “Putin is laughing” at the German leader, who he said had been “manipulated” by the Russian president to “exactly where he wants him”.
He continued: “No Taurus but huge amounts of humiliation. I think Scholz is probably best suited to chairing a sub committee of a local council rather than running a government.”
Lithuania’s Gabrielius Landsbergis, who is one of the EU’s most outspoken foreign ministers, said it was difficult for him to understand why the call had happened.
He said: “I’m not in principle against any calling or reach-out, but it has to come from a position of strength, not from the position of weakness, because if it does, then Russians will abuse it. And they clearly are doing exactly that, with massive new rocket barrages against Ukraine’s civil infrastructure, against energy. So what does it help? Why are we doing this?”
During their one-hour conversation on Friday, the German chancellor urged Putin to remove his soldiers from Ukraine. Russia then launched its worst attack on Ukraine in months over the weekend, killing at least seven people and causing the country to implement statewide electricity rationing.
Scholz’s phone call to the Kremlin was so ineffective that within a few hours Putin launched a massive illegal attack on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. In one move he undermined the unified western position, showed weakness and emboldened Russia. 1/2
Germany is sticking with its decision not to provide long-range missiles to Ukraine, a German government spokesperson said on Monday.
A spokesperson told a regular news conference in Berlin: “The chancellor’s decision is unchanged.”
Ukraine’s use of French long-range missiles to strike military targets inside Russia is an “an option”, the foreign minister said on Monday
Jean-Noel Barrot said president Emmanuel Macron had made it clear in May that such missiles could be used in certain cases.
He said upon arrival in Brussels for a meeting of foreign affairs ministers: “You heard President Macron in Meseberg on May 25, where we openly said that it was an option that we would consider, if we had to authorise strikes on targets from which the Russians attack Ukrainian territory. So, nothing new under the sun.”
The Kremlin said on Monday that if the United States allowed Ukraine to use US-made weapons to strike far into Russia then it would lead to a rise in tension and deepen the involvement of the US in the conflict.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the outgoing administration of Joe Biden was throwing “oil on the fire” and he reiterated earlier warnings from Russian president Vladimir Putin saying that any strikes on Russian soil using US weapons would be interpreted as direct Nato involvement.
In response to a question from Tass at his regular press briefing, Mr Peskov said Russia was only aware of the apparent decision by the Biden administration from reporting in western media.
He said if western weapons are fired deep into Russia, it would not be Ukraine doing the targeting “but those countries which gave permission.”
France signalled on Monday that allowing Kyiv to strike military targets inside Russia remained an option on the table.
The country has already provided long-range missiles to Ukraine.
Jean-Noël Barrot, minister for Europe and foreign affairs of France, told journalists ahead of an EU ministers’ meeting in Brussels: “We openly said this was an option that we would consider if it was to allow to strike a target from where Russia is currently aggressing Ukrainian territory. So nothing new on the other side.”
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