Joe Biden has allowed Ukraine to strike inside Russia with long-range US missiles, prompting dire warnings from Moscow. The Kremlin has accused Washington of adding “fuel to the fire” and trying to escalate the conflict.
Monday 18 November 2024 18:39, UK
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Defence Secretary John Healey has said he will speak with the US and Ukrainian defence secretaries this evening.
He declined to share the UK’s stance on the US permitting Ukraine to use its long-range missiles to strike Russian territory, telling the House of Commons commenting would “compromise operations and security”.
“We must double down on the support for Ukraine, give Ukraine the support it needs, and do so for as long as it takes,” he added.
At the G20 Summit in Brazil, Sir Keir Starmer gave a similar answer when asked if he would permit Ukrainian use of the UK’s Storm Shadow missiles to hit Russia.
“I’m not going to get into operational details because the only winner, if we were to do that, is Putin, and I’m not prepared to do that.”
Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said the Tories would support such a move.
Russia says any use of long-range missiles to attack its territory would constitute a “radical change” in the war provoking an “appropriate and tangible” response.
The comments made by a foreign ministry spokesperson come after Joe Biden lifted a ban on Ukraine striking inside Russia with long-range US missiles, according to our partner network NBC News.
Ukraine plans to conduct its first long-range attacks in the coming days, US sources said.
The Russian foreign ministry said such an action would fundamentally alter the nature of the war and trigger a response.
Olaf Scholz’s call with Vladimir Putin was a “strategic mistake” that weakened European unity, the Estonian foreign minister has said.
Scholz held a one-hour call with Putin on Friday – his first direct communication with Russia’s leader in almost two years.
He defended the call as a way to make clear to Mr Putin that German, European and other support for Ukraine would not wane.
But Margus Tsahkna, whose Baltic nation is one of Ukraine’s most vocal supporters, said the call had damaged Western efforts to isolate the Russian president.
“It was a strategic mistake,” he said.
“We have had a principle agreed that we keep Putin in isolation.”
He pointed out that Russia mounted one of its most severe attacks on Ukraine in months in the days after the call.
“It just weakened our unity and our positions.”
Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis also voiced scepticism about the call, saying such a move had to come from a position of strength, not weakness, or “the Russians will abuse it”.
“They clearly are doing exactly that with the massive new rocket barrages against Ukraine’s civil infrastructure, against energy,” he said.
As the conflict in Ukraine nears its 1,000th day, the war could be about to shift.
President Joe Biden’s approval for Ukraine to strike deep inside Russia with long-range US missiles has sparked fears of escalation, with fury in Moscow.
Vladimir Putin has previously called the move “an unacceptable red line”, as Western leaders, including UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at the G20, weigh their next steps.
Daily host Niall Paterson explores whether this moment marks a turning point for Ukraine, or the brink of something far worse.
Ivor Bennett, our Moscow correspondent, and defence analyst Tim Ripley join Niall to discuss why these missiles could change the course of the war.
The Slovak prime minister has joined Hungary (see 14.40 post) in strongly opposing Washington’s decision to allow Ukraine to use long-range US-supplied weapons in strikes against Russia
Robert Fico said the move aimed to thwart or delay peace negotiations.
“This is an unprecedented escalation of tensions, a decision that thwarts hopes for the start of any peace talks and an end to the mutual killing of Slavs in Ukraine,” he said.
Fico is another European leader who has fostered a stronger relationship with Vladimir Putin.
His nationalist government immediately halted military supplies to Kyiv after taking office a year ago and has argued that weapons deliveries are prolonging the conflict.
The Polish government has signed a letter of intent with domestic companies to make powders necessary for producing ammunition, it has announced.
Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Poland has taken significant steps to bolster its defensive capabilities in the event of future conflict.
“It is the first step towards rebuilding Polish ammunition production capabilities,” defence minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said in a statement.
Poland currently imports explosives from Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Finland, Switzerland and Canada.
The Polish government announced plans this month to invest 3 billion zlotys (£594m) to boost ammunition production.
“No one who observes the war in Ukraine and other conflicts in the world today can have any doubts about how important it is to have access to a large amount of ammunition for modern weapons,” Kosiniak-Kamysz added.
Russia may use new weapons systems in Ukraine if Kyiv strikes Russia with long-range US missiles, Vyacheslav Volodin, the chair of the State Duma in Russia and ally of President Vladimir Putin has said.
Volodin, who presides over the lower house of parliament in Moscow, did not provide further details on the new weapons systems and said Ukraine was already striking Russia using such long-range missiles.
But while he insisted the development would make no difference to the battlefield situation in the war, he said in a statement that the expansion of their use would “completely destroy Russian-American relations”.
North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, has added his voice to reactions following the US move to let Ukraine use American-supplied weapons for strikes on Russia.
Kim, a strong ally of Vladimir Putin’s regime, said Washington and its Western allies were using Ukraine as their “shock troops” to wage a war against Moscow and expand the scope of US military influence, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
Kim has prioritised his country’s ties to Russia in recent months, embracing the idea of a “new Cold War” and sending North Korean soldiers to fight alongside Russian troops on the front lines of the war in Ukraine.
A Russian-installed governor in Crimea has vowed revenge against the “terrorists” who killed a high-ranking captain in the Russian navy last week in a hit claimed by Ukrainian security services.
Valery Trankovsky, the chief of staff of the 41st brigade of Russia’s missile ships in the Black Sea, died in a car bombing on Wednesday in the port of Sevastopol.
A source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told Reuters last week that Kyiv saw the 47-year-old as a “legitimate” target in line with the laws of war because of “war crimes” he committed, including ordering missile attacks that hit civilian targets in Ukraine.
Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol, said those who ordered his death would pay a grave price.
“Non-humans, who dared to do this, await an obvious finale,” Razvozhayev said in a Telegram post.
“Because all terrorists have the same fate.”
Russia’s Investigative Committee, which handles probes into serious crimes, said in a statement on Wednesday that an improvised explosive device had detonated in an act of terrorism, killing a serviceman.
Trankovsky is one of several pro-war Russian figures assassinated since the start of the Ukraine war in operations blamed by Moscow on Kyiv, including journalist Darya Dugina, war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky and former submarine commander Stanislav Rzhitsky.
Ukraine’s air force said today that it shot down eight out of 11 Russian drones during an overnight attack.
Ukraine’s military lost three more drones on its radars, according to an official statement.
Russia also used two Iskander-M ballistic missiles and one Kh-59 guided missile to attack the country, the air force said.
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free