The US will allow Ukraine to fire long-range weapons at Russian territory

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has indicated that the United States and its partners will lift restrictions on long-range weapons strikes on Russian territory. The decision is believed to have already been made privately. The Secretary of State said in Kyiv that the United States will continue to review its policy regarding the use of long-range weapons by Ukraine, writes The Guardian.

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has hinted that the White House is considering lifting restrictions on Ukraine's use of Western-supplied long-range weapons against key military targets in Russia.

Speaking in Kyiv alongside British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Blinken said the US had been prepared "from day one" to change its policy as the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine changed.

"We will continue to do this," he stressed.

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Blinken said he and Lammy would brief their "bosses" Joe Biden and Keir Starmer on the outcome of their talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on September 11. The Foreign Secretary suggested that Iran's deployment of ballistic missiles to Moscow, revealed this week, had changed strategic thinking in London and Washington.

It was a "significant and dangerous escalation", he said, adding: "Putin has escalated the situation. We are seeing a new Russia-Iran-North Korea axis." Lammy urged China "not to throw in its lot" with what he called a "renegade group".

British government sources say a decision has already been taken to allow the use of Storm Shadow cruise missiles against targets in Russia, although it is not expected to be publicly announced on Friday when Starmer meets Biden in Washington.

The two leaders plan to discuss the war in Ukraine and how to end it as part of a broader foreign policy discussion, though they are unlikely to discuss specific weapons systems because the conversation is strategic.

There is no press conference planned during Starmer's visit to the US. But key European allies will be briefed on the outcome of the meeting this weekend.

According to sources, the joint visit of Blinken and Lammy to Kyiv on September 11 to meet with Zelensky would not have taken place if a positive decision had not been made regarding Storm Shadow.

But a public announcement about long-range missiles would be considered unnecessarily provocative in Kyiv. Restrictions on Ukraine's use of 300-km-range missiles are likely to remain in place.

Speaking in Kyiv, Lammy said he would not reveal details of private discussions that could give Putin an advantage. He condemned the Russian leader's invasion of Ukraine and accused him personally of "arrogance and greed".

"This is imperialism. This is fascism," he noted.

Ukraine has lobbied for months for permission to strike airfields, missile launchers and air-traffic control centres deep inside Russian territory. In an interview with The Guardian in May, Zelensky said Biden’s delays in making the decision had cost Ukraine lives.

Zelensky urged the president to overcome his fears of nuclear escalation. The US must “have more faith in us,” he said, adding of Russia: “We must respond. They understand nothing but force.”

Blinken and Lammy arrived in Kyiv on an overnight train from Poland. They came to reaffirm their “unwavering support for Ukraine,” Lammy wrote on social media platform X: “We must stand up to Vladimir Putin’s imperialism. Our collective security depends on it.”

The trip came 24 hours after Blinken confirmed in London that Tehran had sent deadly new ballistic missiles to Russia. In Kyiv, Blinken said Britain and the US believed Ukraine would win.

Speaking at a joint press conference, Lammy described Britain's support for Ukraine as a strong "90-year partnership". He said the government was providing a new package of military aid, including Brimstone missiles and AS-XNUMX self-propelled artillery.

"We recognise what is at stake: not just the freedom of Ukraine, but the security of Europe and the West," Lammy said.

In Kyiv, they were eagerly awaiting the US and Great Britain to finally lift their objections to strikes deep into Russian territory.

"We hope to hear the long-awaited decision allowing us to strike Russia with Atacms," said MP Kira Rudyk.

"Fingers crossed," said former Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk. Asked whether long-range weapons would have an impact on the war as Russian troops seize towns and villages in the eastern Donbas region, he simply said: "It's a big deal."

Ukrainian officials have previously expressed frustration that the new Labour government in Britain has not been tougher on the issue and has waited for the White House to change its red lines. The US State Department has reportedly been open to Kyiv's request, while the Pentagon and some in the US intelligence community have been skeptical.

In May, the United States gave the go-ahead for the first time to use Himars artillery systems in Russia's border areas, following the Kremlin's offensive in the Kharkiv region and the Ukrainian city of Vovchansk.

This week, top Democrats and Republicans in Washington called on the White House to go further. In a letter, a group of senators called on Biden to “immediately end” restrictions on the use of long-range missiles provided to the U.S. and its NATO allies. Russia has benefited from the policy and continued to strike Ukraine, the letter said.

"We need to take the handcuffs off Ukraine and give it every benefit," said Republican Senator Roger Wicker.

The senators argued that advanced Western weapons would play a role in forcing Russia to defend its home front. They said the White House's delays in delivering Abrams tanks, F-16s and other American weapons were "regrettable."

Speaking in Germany last week, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said long-range strikes would not change the course of the war in Ukraine's favor, noting that Russia had already moved its KAB stockpiles beyond the range of the US Atacms long-range missile system.

Austin said Kyiv was using its drones to hit targets beyond the range of Anglo-French Storm Shadow missiles. Such operations have become increasingly successful. On September 9, a drone attack closed three Moscow airports. Another strike earlier this month damaged an oil refinery on the outskirts of the Russian capital. On September 11, drones were reported to have targeted an air base in Murmansk, 1800 km (XNUMX miles) from Ukraine.

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Matthew Saville of the London-based defence think tank Rusi said Ukraine had failed to inform allies in advance of its surprise invasion of Russia's Kursk region in August.

"It has affected the debate about escalation and the use of long-range weapons inside Russia," he said.

Saville warned that it would be “very, very difficult to knock out” Russian air bases, which are “basically a pile of concrete” and “hundreds of kilometres” from the front line. The Atacms cluster bombs would be more effective than the non-cluster Storm Shadows, he suggested.

In Moscow, Russian state news agency TASS reported, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Russia would destroy any new deliveries of Atacms missiles.

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