US and British Leaders are to Meet     09/13 06:21

   Ukraine's push to ease restrictions on the use of weapons from the U.S. and 
Britain will be discussed Friday in talks between the U.S. and British leaders 
in Washington.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Ukraine's push to ease restrictions on the use of weapons 
from the U.S. and Britain will be discussed Friday in talks between the U.S. 
and British leaders in Washington.

   Ukraine wants approval to use some weapons to strike deeper into Russia and 
there are signs President Joe Biden might shift U.S. policy in response. 
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Ukraine's use of long-range 
weapons would put NATO at war with Moscow.

   While the issue is expected to be at the top of the leaders' agenda, it 
appeared unlikely that Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer would 
announce any policy changes during this week's visit, according to two U.S. 
officials familiar with planning for the leaders' talks. They spoke on 
condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the private 
deliberations.

   Ukrainian officials renewed their pleas to use Western-provided long-range 
missiles against targets deeper inside Russia during this week's visit to Kyiv 
by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David 
Lammy.

   Blinken said he had "no doubt" that Biden and Starmer would discuss the 
matter during their visit, noting the U.S. has adapted and "will adjust as 
necessary" as Russia's battlefield strategy has changed.

   Blinken spoke similarly in May, shortly before the U.S. allowed Ukraine to 
use American-provided weapons just inside Russian territory. The permitted 
distance has been largely limited to cross-border targets deemed a direct 
threat, out of concerns about further escalating the conflict.

   In addition to Blinken, Biden also has hinted a change could be afoot. In an 
exchange with reporters this week about whether he was ready to ease weapons 
restrictions on Ukraine, he responded, "We're working that out now."

   Putin warned Thursday that allowing long-range strikes "would mean that NATO 
countries, the United States, and European countries are at war with Russia. 
... If this is so, then, bearing in mind the change in the very essence of this 
conflict, we will make appropriate decisions based on the threats that will be 
created for us."

   His remarks were in line with the narrative the Kremlin has promoted since 
early in the Ukraine war, accusing NATO countries of de-facto participation in 
the conflict and threatening a response.

   Earlier in the year, Putin warned that Russia could provide long-range 
weapons to others to strike Western targets in response to NATO allies allowing 
Ukraine to use their arms to attack Russian territory, saying it "would mark 
their direct involvement in the war against the Russian Federation, and we 
reserve the right to act the same way."

   Starmer, in response to the Russian leader's comments Thursday, said on his 
way to the U.S. that Britain does not seek any conflict with Russia.

   "Russia started this conflict," Starmer told reporters. "Russia illegally 
invaded Ukraine. Russia could end this conflict straight away."

   He added: "Ukraine has the right to self-defense and we've obviously been 
absolutely fully supportive of Ukraine's right to self-defense -- we're 
providing training capability, as you know."

   "But we don't seek any conflict with Russia -- that's not our intention in 
the slightest," Starmer said.

   Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pressed U.S. and allied military 
leaders to go much further. He argues that the U.S. must allow Ukraine to 
target Russian air bases and launch sites far from the border as Russia has 
stepped up assaults on Ukraine's electricity grid and utilities before the 
winter.

   Zelenskyy also wants more long-range weaponry from the United States, 
including the Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, for strikes in 
Russia.

   ATACMS wouldn't be the answer to the main threat Ukraine faces from 
long-range Russian glide bombs, which are being fired from more than 300 
kilometers (185 miles) away, beyond the ATACMS' reach, said Lt. Col. Charlie 
Dietz, Pentagon spokesperson.

   American officials also don't believe they have enough of the weapon systems 
available to provide Ukraine with the number to make a substantive difference 
to conditions on the ground, one of the U.S. officials said.

   During a meeting of allied defense ministers last week, Defense Secretary 
Lloyd Austin said he did not believe providing Ukraine with long-range weapon 
systems would be a game-changer in the grueling war. He noted that Ukraine has 
already been able to strike inside Russia with its own internally produced 
systems, including drones.

   "I don't believe one capability is going to be decisive, and I stand by that 
comment," Austin said.

   "As of right now, the policy has not changed," Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon 
press secretary, said Thursday.

   Starmer said he was visiting Washington for "strategic meetings to discuss 
Ukraine and to discuss the Middle East." It's the prime minister's second 
meeting with Biden since his center-left government was elected in July.

   It comes after Britain last week diverged from the U.S. by suspending some 
arms exports to Israel because of the risk they could be used to break 
international law.

   Biden and Starmer's meeting also comes before this month's annual meeting of 
global leaders at the United Nations General Assembly. The Oval Office meeting 
was scheduled in part to help the two leaders compare notes on the war in 
Ukraine, the languishing efforts to get a cease-fire deal in Gaza and other 
issues before the U.N. meeting.

   The White House also has sought in recent days to put a greater emphasis on 
the nexus between the war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East that 
was sparked after Iranian-backed Hamas militants in Gaza launched attacks on 
Israel on Oct. 7.

   The Biden administration said this week that Iran recently delivered 
short-range ballistic weapons to Russia to use against Ukraine, a transfer that 
White House officials worry will allow Russia to use more of its arsenal for 
targets far beyond the Ukrainian front line while employing Iranian warheads 
for closer-range targets.

   In turn, the U.S. administration says Russia has been tightening its 
relationship with Iran, including by providing it with nuclear and space 
technology.

   "This is obviously deeply concerning," White House national security 
spokesperson John Kirby said of the missile transfer. "And it certainly speaks 
to the manner in which this partnership threatens European security and how it 
illustrates Iran's destabilizing influence now reaches well beyond the Middle 
East."