Joe Biden and Keir Starmer vow Putin ‘won’t prevail’ in Ukraine struggle
Joe Biden has said ‘I don’t think much about Vladimir Putin’ as Sir Keir Starmer joined the US President for talks about the conflict in Ukraine.
The pair sat in the Blue Room at the White House on Friday as the Prime Minister spoke of how the UK and US are ‘strategically aligned’ in their attempts to resolve the war.
Sir Keir said the next weeks and months will be ‘crucial’ in Ukraine and said it was ‘important’ the two countries continued to support the eastern European nation in its fight against Russia.
Starmer also said he believes the UK and US are ‘strategically aligned’ as they began discussions about the conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Asked what he thought about Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s threat of war, US President Joe Biden said: ‘I don’t think much about Vladimir Putin.’
US President Joe Biden holds a bilateral meeting with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at the White House
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer, right, and Foreign Secretary David Lammy, second right, during a meeting with US President Joe Biden, centre left, in the Blue Room at the White House in Washington
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer attends a bilateral meeting hosted by President Joe Biden, not pictured, in the Blue Room of the White House today in Washington
President Joe Biden, center, joined by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, hosts a bilateral meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, not pictured, in the Blue Room of the White House
The president and prime minister were pictured alongside their teams in the Blue Room of the White House as the talks began.
The meeting comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his frustration at the continued restrictions on the use of Western weaponry against Russian targets.
In a lengthy statement posted on X, Mr Zelensky said after meeting with Foreign Secretary David Lammy and his US counterpart Antony Blinken earlier this week, ‘there should be no unanswered questions about why Ukraine needs sufficient long-range capabilities’.
Mr Lammy and Mr Blinken were pressed on the use of Western weaponry during their visit to Ukraine earlier this week, but said they had to report back to their bosses, the Prime Minister and US President.
Mr Putin said allowing long-range strikes ‘would mean that Nato countries, the United States, and European countries are at war with Russia … if this is so, then, bearing in mind the change in the very essence of this conflict, we will make appropriate decisions based on the threats that will be created for us’.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (left) and Foreign Secretary David Lammy at the British ambassador’s residence in Washington DC before their meeting with US President Joe Biden where they’ll hold talks on resolving the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza
The US President said the two leaders would talk about Ukraine, the need for a hostage and ceasefire deal in the Middle East, and about the Indo-Pacific region
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, right, arrives to meet with President Joe Biden today
The US President said the two leaders would talk about Ukraine, the need for a hostage and ceasefire deal in the Middle East, and about the Indo-Pacific region.
This comes after the US president signalled a new openness to allowing Ukraine to send long-range missiles into Russia amid a warning from Vladimir Putin that such a move would lead to ‘war.’
American officials had previously told CNN that they did not expect an immediate sign off from Biden on allowing US-provided Army Tactical Missile Systems — known as ATACMS — to be launched on targets inside Russia.
But the United Kingdom has sent its own long-range Storm Shadow missiles to Kyiv. Their use, along with use of similar weapons from France, is currently limited to within Ukraine.
A change in that policy will require U.S. sign-off, which is what Biden and Starmer will be discussing in their meeting today.
The meeting comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Kyiv, Ukraine today
The meeting comes after former prime minister Boris Johnson met Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Friday and renewed calls for Britain to allow the country to use Storm Shadow missiles against targets in Russia.
‘It is vital that Ukraine should be able to defend itself properly by stopping the appalling Russian attacks with glide bombs and now Iranian missiles,’ Mr Johnson said following the meeting.
‘It is obvious that they should be able to use Storm Shadow, Scalp and ATACMS as fast as possible against targets in Russia itself. Every day that goes by means more pointless and tragic loss of Ukrainian lives.’
