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Sir Keir Starmer has declined to rule out allowing Ukraine to use UK-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles for strikes inside Russia, after President Joe Biden authorised the use of US-supplied long-range weapons.
The UK prime minister said he did not want to get into “operational details”, arguing the only beneficiary would be Russian President Vladimir Putin.
His intervention came amid a flurry of diplomatic activity as UK defence secretary John Healey spoke to his US counterpart Lloyd Austin on Sunday and prepared to speak with his Ukrainian opposite number on Monday.
Starmer called on allies to “double down” on support for Kyiv as he arrived at a G20 summit in Rio.
The British prime minister has faced questions whether Ukraine would receive approval to utilise UK-supplied Storm Shadow weapons inside Russia, after it emerged on Sunday that Biden had authorised US-made long-range missiles for such use.
Healey on Monday told MPs he would “not compromise operational security” by commenting on long-range systems.
The comments indicate the UK would not necessarily confirm publicly any change in permissions surrounding the use of Storm Shadows by Ukraine.
Starmer has been pushing Biden to allow Ukraine’s use of western-made, long-range missiles for several months and argued ahead of the G20 summit that the deployment of North Korean troops had marked an escalation in the conflict.
Biden has authorised Kyiv to launch limited strikes into Russia’s Kursk region using US-made long-range missiles known as the Army Tactical Missile System, or Atacms, in a major policy shift two months before president-elect Donald Trump re-enters the White House.
Ukrainian forces seized territory in the Kursk region in the summer, and Russia has now massed 50,000 troops, including 10,000 North Korean soldiers, to try and retake the area.
Storm Shadow missiles, which have a range of about 250km (150 miles), partly rely on US navigational data and other technology, which has meant their use inside Russia has required sign-off from Washington.
On Monday, UK junior defence minister Maria Eagle was asked whether the country would align with the US in permitting Ukraine to use the missile defence systems that Britain has supplied “as it sees fit in its own defence”. She replied: “Absolutely.”
She added: “We intend to align with our allies in making sure that Ukraine can make use of the capability that has been offered by those who have committed support to that country in its fight.”
France indicated on Monday it had been willing for months to lift restrictions on Ukraine using French-made Scalp missiles to hit targets inside Russia.
French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot said: “We openly said that this was an option that we would consider if it was to allow to strike targets from where Russians are currently aggressing Ukrainian territory.”
Matthew Savill, director of military sciences at the Royal United Services Institute think-tank, said: “It stands to reason that relaxation of the Atacms criteria will similarly lead to some relaxation on both Storm Shadow and Scalp.”
He added: “From the Ukrainian perspective it would be preferable for this to take place privately and not be announced until after first use, though the Russians already have some advance warning.”
Savill cautioned that, even if Kyiv does secure British and French permissions, it would take time for Ukraine’s military to put together a cruise missile strike package that could penetrate Russian air defences successfully by using decoys and electronic jamming.
As such, “we shouldn’t expect to immediately see a high volume of . . . strikes”, he added.
There are not believed to be large numbers of Storm Shadows left in allied stocks, and western officials have warned that the lengthy discussions between Nato partners about whether to grant Kyiv permission to use these or equivalent US or French weapons inside Russia has given Moscow the ability to move key kit and other targets, such as bomber aircraft, back outside of their range.
The Kremlin said on Monday the US decision to let Ukraine launch limited strikes inside Russia with Atacms marked a “new turn of escalation” in the nearly three-year conflict, adding Moscow would react “appropriately”.
Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesperson, said the outgoing Biden administration was trying “to keep pouring fuel on the fire and provoke an escalation of tensions”, according to Interfax.