Joe Biden raised Ukraine’s hopes that it will be given the go-ahead to fire missiles from the West deep into Russia.
The US president said we are “working that out now” when asked if the US would lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of long range weapons in its war against Russia.
His comments came as British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and American Secretary of State Antony Blinken were heading to Kyiv for a show of solidarity in its war against Vladimir Putin.
The UK and US top diplomats were also on the visit to hear from Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky and other senior figures in Kyiv about how they would use these long range missiles including Storm Shadows supplied by Britain.
They want to hear about Ukraine’s strategies for winning the war which is set to enter a third harsh winter, with Putin’s military targeting electricity and water infrastructure in clear attacks on civilian populations.
The US has been reluctant to supply or sanction the use of weapons that could strike targets deep inside in Russia for fear it would escalate the conflict.
Washington sources are saying, though, that the US was close to an agreement to give Ukraine such weapons and permissions, but that Kyiv would need to wait several months as America works through technical issues ahead of any shipment.
Kyiv’s other allies have been supplying weapons, but with restrictions on how and when they can be used inside Russia, out of concern such strikes could prompt retaliation that draws NATO countries into the war or provokes a nuclear conflict.
However, the US and UK stance on this issue appeared to being swayed by intelligence showing that Iran has been supplying short range ballistic missiles to the Putin regime for its war in Ukraine.
Mr Blinken told at a press conference in London on Tuesday that the Iranian missiles would free up Russian military chiefs to fire their longer range missiles at targets deep inside Ukraine.
Britain, alongside France and Germany, have also imposed new sanctions on Iran for its support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
On the battlefield, Russian forces have begun a significant counter offensive against Ukrainian troops who smashed their way into western Russia last month, and have taken some territory back, pro-Moscow war bloggers said.
Ukraine on Aug. 6 launched the biggest foreign attack on Russia since World War Two, bursting through the border into the region of Kursk with thousands of troops supported by swarms of drones and heavy weaponry, including Western made arms.
Yuri Podolyaka, an Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger, and two other influential bloggers - Rybar and the Two Majors - said that Russian forces had begun a significant counter-offensive in Kursk.
Putin’s forces have been gradually seizing more territory in eastern Ukraine in the war which he launched in February 2022.
