Our Planet Climate and Geopolitics
When Keir Starmer said it was “for Ukraine to decide” how to deploy Storm Shadow missiles provided by the UK, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky quite reasonably understood that as permission to use them against military targets in Russian territory. But Starmer’s new foreign secretary, David Lammy, interviewed on Friday by European Pravda, refused to confirm the UK’s position either way. It’s not clear why. Lammy may be anxious not to stray too far from cautious White House positions on Ukrainian use of US weapons. He may be wary of the “appropriate measures” the Kremlin says Russia will take if certain imaginary “red lines” in Putin’s head are crossed. Lammy needs to be clear in his own head about two things. First, the last UK government was quite clear that Ukraine’s use of Storm Shadows was “purely a matter for Kyiv”. And second, the UK cannot do right by Ukraine and the US on this issue. It has to choose.
