Volodymyr Zelenskiy has complained that it has become increasingly difficult to use Storm Shadow missiles against Russian targets in occupied Ukraine because of a lack of supplies and reduced cooperation from the US, UK and France.
The Ukrainian president flew to Germany to lobby western defence leaders amid growing concern in Kyiv that vital support from key allies for long-range missile strikes in Crimea had diminished as the war approaches a third winter.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine needed to be able to threaten targets inside Russia’s internationally recognised borders with Anglo-French Storm Shadow/Scalp cruise missiles and US Atacms ballistic missiles, repeating a demand he has made on several occasions previously.
But he then went further and suggested it was even becoming difficult in practice to strike Russian targets on occupied Ukrainian territory, which has been permitted by supplying countries for months.
“Now we hear that your long-range policy has not changed, but we see changes in the Atacms, Storm Shadows and Scalps – a shortage of missiles and cooperation,” Zelenskiy said on Friday at the start of a day-long summit of western defence ministers at Ramstein airbase in Germany.
“And this applies even to our territory, which is occupied by Russia, including Crimea. We think it is wrong that there are such steps. We need to have this long-range capability not only on the occupied territory of Ukraine but also on the Russian territory, so that Russia is motivated to seek peace,” he said.
Ukraine has been pressing for months to be allowed to use the two types of missile, which both have a range of at least 190 miles, to strike military targets well inside Russian territory.
At the meeting on Friday, multiple countries seemed to be persuaded that Ukraine should get the green light, which could add to pressure on the US.
“Many countries are in favour,” said Laurynas Kasčiūnas, Lithuania’s defence minister. “Many, many. But the question is not the number of countries, but countries who give [those] missiles.” By announcing Lithuania’s support, Kasčiūnas said, he hoped to help convince other countries.
Canada’s defence minister, Bill Blair, said he hoped other western allies also got behind the push. Canada did not have long-range munitions it could provide on its own, he said.
There have been complaints from Ukraine – until now behind the scenes – that cooperation with the UK, in particular, has worsened, preventing the use of Storm Shadow in Crimea. British ministers and officials say this is not the case, and one senior source said there had been “definitely no change” on the permitted use of the missiles.
The UK announced at the meeting that it would send an extra 650 air defence missiles to Ukraine at a cost of £162m.
Kyiv argues that it is locked in an unfair fight in which Russia can bomb military and civilian sites anywhere inside Ukraine while its own western allies do not allow it to strike back at airfields, military bases and significant infrastructure targets.
This week a Russian missile strike on the central Ukrainian city of Poltava hit a military training institute, killing at least 51 people. A rare attack on the western city of Lviv killed seven, including four members of one family.
Last month a senior Ukrainian official called on the west to allow Ukraine to use Storm Shadow in a “demonstration strike” on a target near Moscow, in hope that the threat of war spreading to the Russian heartlands could persuade the Kremlin to consider peace negotiations.
However, led by the White House, western countries including the UK and France have been reluctant to loosen restrictions on the use of the missiles, partly for fear that Moscow could consider it escalatory.
Ukraine says concerns about a Russian threat to the west are exaggerated and that it has obtained and used other weapons, such as Leopard tanks and F-16 fighters, without triggering a wider crisis with Moscow.
Zelenskiy also argued that Vladimir Putin would only respond to a show of Ukrainian strength, and otherwise would continue to try to make further territorial conquests in the eastern Donbas region.
“It is Putin who doesn’t want peace,” Zelenskiy said. “He is obsessed with territorial conquests. He wants our cities or the ruins that remain of them. And that is why we need strength. We need to force Russia to seek peace. We need to make Russian cities and even Russian soldiers think about what they need – peace or Putin?”
Shortly after his speech, the Ramstein meeting went into private session, allowing Zelenskiy to personally address ministers led by Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary. Also present was Austin’s British counterpart, John Healey.
Ukraine’s overall military situation remains difficult, with Russia advancing towards the strategic town of Pokrovsk at the heart of the Donbas front. Last month Kyiv tried to hit back by launching a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, and it now holds 1,300 sq km of territory, Zelenskiy said.
Austin, speaking immediately after Zelenskiy, thanked the Ukrainian president. “We hear your urgency. And we share it,” he said at the close of the public session. He said the US would unveil details of a further $250m military aid package for Ukraine later on Friday, and was working to help design and build a replacement for the Soviet standard S-300 air defence system.
Pentagon officials confirmed that the US was considering whether to supply JASSM cruise missiles, which have a range of at least 230 miles. The air-launched JASSM can be carried by F-16s, now being used by Ukraine’s air force.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence said there had been no change in the UK’s position on Storm Shadow or other weapons supplied to Kyiv. “We are clear that equipment provided by the UK is intended for the defence of Ukraine,” it said.
