Sir Keir Starmer has said the UK and US have come to a “strong position” in their quest for a resolution to the conflict in Ukraine following his meeting with President Joe Biden. The Prime Minister described his discussions with Mr Biden as “long and productive”, but would not be drawn on w…
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine made a new call Saturday on the West to allow it to strike deeper into Russia after a meeting between U.S. and British leaders a day earlier produced no visible shift in their policy on the use of long-range weapons.
The renewed appeal came as Kyiv said Russia launched more drone and artillery attacks on Ukraine.
The head of NATO’s military committee said Saturday that Ukraine has the solid legal and military right to strike deep inside Russia to gain combat advantage — reflecting the beliefs of a number of U.S. allies — even as the Biden administration balks at allowing Kyiv to do so using American-made weapons.
“Every nation that is attacked has the right to defend itself. And that right doesn’t stop at the border of your own nation,” said Adm. Rob Bauer, speaking at the close of the committee’s annual meeting, also attended by U.S. Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Bauer, of Netherlands, also added that nations have the sovereign right to put limits on the weapons they send to Ukraine.
Standing next to him at a news briefing, Lt. Gen. Karel Rehka, chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces, made it clear his nation places no such weapons restrictions on Kyiv. “We believe that the Ukrainians should decide themselves how to use it,” Rehka said.
Their comments, which came as U.S. President Joe Biden weighs whether to loosen restrictions on Ukraine’s use of American-provided long-range weapons, hint at the divisions over the issue.
So far, the U.S. allowed Kyiv to use American-provided weapons only in a limited area inside Russia’s border with Ukraine.
Discussions on allowing long-range strikes were believed to be on the table when U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met in Washington on Friday but no decision was immediately announced.
Providing additional support and training for Ukraine was a key topic at the NATO chiefs’ meeting, but it wasn’t clear Saturday if the debate over the U.S. restrictions was discussed.
“Russian terror begins at weapons depots, airfields and military bases inside the Russian Federation,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Andriy Yermak said Saturday. “Permission to strike deep into Russia will speed up the solution.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pressed the U.S. and other allies to allow his forces to use Western weapons to target air bases and launch sites farther afield as Russia stepped up assaults on Ukraine’s electricity grid and utilities before winter.
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He did not directly comment on the meeting Saturday morning, but said more than 70 Russian drones were launched into Ukraine overnight. The Ukrainian air force later said 76 Russian drones were sighted, of which 72 were shot down.
“We need to boost our air defense and long-range capabilities to protect our people,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media. “We are working on this with all of Ukraine’s partners.”
Other overnight attacks saw one person killed by Russian artillery fire as energy infrastructure was targeted in Ukraine’s Sumy region. A 54-year-old driver was killed and seven more people were hospitalized, Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy said.
Another three people died Saturday in a Russian strike on an agricultural enterprise in the front-line town of Huliaipole in the Zaporizhzhia region, Gov. Ivan Fedorov said.
Meanwhile, officials in Moscow continued to make public statements warning that long-range strikes would provoke further escalation between Russia and the West. The remarks are in line with the narrative the Kremlin promoted since early in the war, accusing NATO countries of de-facto participation in the conflict and threatening a response.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told state news agency Tass on Saturday that the U.S. and British governments were pushing the conflict, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, toward “poorly controlled escalation.”
Biden on Friday brushed off similar comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said on Thursday that allowing long-range strikes “would mean that NATO countries, the United States and European countries, are at war with Russia.”
Asked what he thought about Putin’s threat, Biden answered, “I don’t think much about Vladimir Putin.”
Russian and Ukrainian officials also announced on Saturday a prisoner swap brokered by the United Arab Emirates. It included 206 prisoners on both sides, including Russians captured in Ukraine’s incursion in the Kursk region.
The swap is the eighth of its kind since the beginning of 2024, and puts the total number of POWs exchanged at 1,994. Previous exchanges also were brokered by the UAE.
Both sides released images of soldiers traveling to meet friends and family, with Zelenskyy commenting, “Our people are home.”
Elsewhere, Russia’s Defense Ministry said that 19 Ukrainian drones were shot down over the country’s Kursk and Belgorod regions.
A woman died Saturday after a Ukrainian shell hit her home in the border village of Bezlyudovka, Belgorod regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
Ukraine endures a second year of war with scenes of grief, suffering and also joy
Sir Keir Starmer has said the UK and US have come to a “strong position” in their quest for a resolution to the conflict in Ukraine following …
NATO’s Chair of the Military Committee Admiral Rob Bauer listens Sept. 11 during the plenary session of the Seoul Defense Dialogue in Seoul, South Korea.