Starmer will later meet with Biden at the White House.
Washington:
New Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged on Wednesday to maintain Britain’s unwavering support for Ukraine and gave his blessing to attacks inside Russia with British missiles, as he made his international debut at a NATO summit in Washington .
Starmer’s tireless message of continuity on Ukraine comes at a time when questions are growing about Kiev’s most important partner, the United States, where presidential candidate Donald Trump is considering reaching a quick deal with Russia.
Days after his Labor Party won the election and ousted the conservatives in power for 14 years, Starmer said he had a “very good” meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of NATO’s 75th anniversary summit.
“I have made it absolutely clear that, as far as the UK is concerned, the change of government makes no difference to the support we will provide,” Starmer told reporters.
“We were united on this when we were in opposition and it was really important for me to be able to state that face to face at the meeting,” said Starmer, who has already spoken to Zelensky by phone after entering Downing Street.
On his flight to Washington, Starmer said decisions on the use of British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles were up to the Ukrainian military.
The UK’s military aid is “for defensive purposes, but it is up to Ukraine to decide how to use it for those defensive purposes”, he said.
The United Kingdom, under three conservative prime ministers, has been among Ukraine’s staunchest supporters of the war, taking the lead in promoting more advanced military systems and looser restrictions on Kiev.
US President Joe Biden, who has strongly supported Ukraine but been careful not to start a direct conflict with Russia, recently took a similar step by allowing Ukraine to attack Russian offensive positions across the border with US weapons. USA.
Zelensky welcomed the decision on Storm Shadow missiles, writing on Telegram: “Thank you for your continued support for Ukraine and our people!”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that Russia would take “appropriate measures” in response to Starmer’s decision.
“If true, it is certainly another absolutely irresponsible step towards fueling tensions and seriously aggravating the situation,” Peskov told reporters.
– ‘Clear eyes’ on Russia –
Starmer will later meet with Biden at the White House and speak with other Western leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron.
Starmer took the Labor Party on a more centrist path than his left-wing predecessor and, along with his Foreign and Defense Secretaries, everyone noted in Washington that Britain helped found NATO in 1949 under Prime Minister Labor minister Clement Atlee.
Starmer said he hopes the NATO summit sends a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that the alliance is “bigger now than ever, more united than ever, and absolutely clear-eyed about the threat of Russian aggression.”
A NATO summit in Britain in 2014 set the goal for each ally to contribute at least two percent of GDP to defense, a long-standing requirement of the United States.
Only the United States, Britain and Greece then reached the target, but since the invasion of Ukraine the number has risen to 23 members of the 32-nation alliance.
New British Defense Secretary John Healey has called on NATO to consider moving towards a 2.5 percent target.
Growing threats around the world suggest that “all NATO nations will need to do more than just two percent,” Healey told reporters.
He said that whatever the outcome of the US election, Washington’s priorities “will increasingly shift to the Indo-Pacific.”
“European nations in NATO must do more of the heavy lifting,” Healey said.
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