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Keir Starmer left the White House on Friday with no sign of progress towards US approval for Ukraine to use Storm Shadow missiles on targets in Russian territory. There’s a chance of a shift in the American position by the time the UN General Assembly meets later this month, but the status quo means two things: Nato is not ready to cross anything described by Putin as a red line, and under those circumstances Putin will not stop his war. Before the talks Putin, Zelensky and certain underemployed British Conservatives sought to raise the stakes. On Thursday, Putin said Ukraine’s use of long-range Western missiles in Russia would put Nato effectively “at war with Russia” since Ukraine needs satellite data from Nato allies for such strikes. Zelensky later posted on X that it was “difficult to repeatedly hear, ‘We are working on this,’ while Putin continues to burn down our cities and villages.”
Boris Johnson, on a private visit to Kyiv, urged the US and UK governments to lift restrictions on the use of SCALP and ATACMS as well as Storm Shadow missiles, while Grant Shapps, the former defence secretary, said ahead of the White House meeting that its one aim should be to free Ukraine to use Storm Shadows as it saw fit.
Western officials responded to Putin’s warning with familiar talking points:
- Starmer, on his flight to DC, reminded Putin that he started the war and he could end it “straight away”.
- The EU foreign policy service’s spokesperson, Peter Stano, said Putin’s threat would not change the EU’s position in support of Ukraine, including with military aid.
But the former US general and CIA director David Petraeus shared Johnson’s impatience. He said Putin was bluffing with his “red line” on long-range missiles and that there was nothing more "conventionally that he can actually do that he's not already doing".
Storm Shadow is an Anglo-French cruise missile with a maximum range of 250 km (155 miles) which can be launched from various types of fighter jets. The missiles have already been used by Ukrainian forces to target Russian supply lines and infrastructure in Crimea and other occupied regions, but US permission is needed to use them on military targets inside Russia.
There are hundreds of military and paramilitary targets in Russia, many of which have already been moved out of Storm Shadow missiles’ range. But they could still be effective against bunkers, command posts and ammunition depots.
