British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing pressure from former defense officials and a former prime minister to permit Ukraine to use long-range missiles within Russian territory, according to a Sunday Times report. The appeal was made by five former Conservative defense secretaries including former Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The group warned that “further hesitation will embolden President Putin.”
For months, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been urging Western allies to approve the use of long-range missiles, such as U.S.-supplied ATACMS and Britain’s Storm Shadow, to strike deep into Russian territory and limit Moscow’s capacity for launching attacks.
On Friday, Starmer and U.S. President Joe Biden held discussions in Washington about whether to grant Kyiv permission to use these missiles against targets within Russia. However, no decision was made public.
Some U.S. officials have expressed doubts about whether allowing Ukraine to use such missiles would significantly impact the ongoing conflict with Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has cautioned that any Western authorization for Ukraine to attack with these long-range weapons would essentially be direct involvement in the conflict.
