UK's Starmer, Biden to discuss Ukraine's use of deep-strike missiles inside Russia

President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are meeting at the White House Friday to discuss how far Western allies might be willing to go to help Ukraine defend itself, including possibly allowing Ukraine to use European-made long-range missiles to strike certain targets deep inside Russia.

Administration officials say Starmer was expected to raise the prospect of loosening restrictions on the use of Western weapons, including Britain's Storm Shadow missiles as part of a broader discussion on what Ukraine needs to turn the tide on a war that's stretched into its third year.

Both U.K. and U.S. officials sought to tamp down speculation that a decision by Biden or a major policy announcement was imminent.

"There is no change to our view on the provision of long-range strike capabilities for Ukraine to use inside Russia, and I wouldn't expect any sort of major announcement in that regard coming out of the discussions -- certainly not from our side," said John Kirby, White House national security spokesman.

Biden has been deeply reluctant to allow Ukraine to use sophisticated Western weapon systems to strike targets deep inside Russia, whereas the U.K. has adopted a more lenient point of view that Russian airfields and other sites used to mobilize troops and other assets to attack Ukraine should be fair game for attack.

Biden's top aides remain skeptical though that deep strikes would do more than provoke Russian President Vladimir Putin. U.S. aides say Russia is believed to have relocated more than 90% of its aircraft out of range of the system, and there are a limited supply of both the Army Tactical Missile System, or "ATACMS," and the U.K.'s Storm Shadow missiles.

A British official speaking on condition of anonymity said the focus of the meeting is much bigger than any one piece of equipment, but rather to have an "open" conversation on how to put Ukraine in a good position to defend itself.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has continued to press for the idea of long-range strike missiles, dispatching top aides to Washington last month with a list of potential targets inside Russia the Ukrainians said could be destroyed. This week, Ukrainian officials reportedly raised the issue in Kyiv with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

Both Biden and Blinken this week stoked speculation of a major policy shift when asked about the discussions, with Blinken promising to relay Ukraine's message to the president and Biden at one point telling reporters "we are working that out right now."

Russian President Vladimir Putin said such a change in policy would alter "the very essence" of the conflict.

"This will mean that NATO countries -- the United States and European countries -- are at war with Russia," Putin said.

Zelenskyy said he has a "victory plan" he intends to deliver to Biden this months that he says would strengthen Kyiv and have a "psychological" impact on Russia that could pave the way to an end to the war. Speaking at Kyiv's annual Crimean Platform event, Zelenskyy said it was important that Ukraine presented the plan to its allies before a second international summit on peace that he wants to hold later this year.

"If partners support it, it will make it easier for Ukraine to force Russia to end the war," he said.

The Biden administration has already eased some restrictions on the use of U.S. arms, allowing Ukraine to launch limited defensive strikes against Russian forces across its border.

But while the U.S. has made its support for Ukraine clear, it's also sought to avoid deep strikes inside the Russia homeland, seeing such a move as a major provocation with both U.S. and NATO trying to avoid direct conflict with Moscow.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a US official said the U.S. remains deeply skeptical that a change in policy by the U.S. and U.K. allies could shift the tide in Ukraine.

“We’re really not talking about something that’ll have an impact on the battlefield,” the official said of long-range strike missiles.