No matter how much Ukraine asks for help from the UK, reports suggest Downing Street will only allow Kyiv to use its long-range missiles once it has the US’s support.
Though the weapons could end up being a pivotal moment in Ukraine’s ongoing conflict with Russia, here’s why the UK cannot act without the US – and why the White House is being so hesitant.
Why does Ukraine want long-range missiles?
Ukraine has been pleading for the West’s permission to use long-range missiles to strike beyond Russian borders for some time.
Known as Storm Shadow cruise missiles, the £767,000 Anglo-French weapons can reach 155 miles and fly close to the speed of sound.
The US also has some long-range missiles, American ATACMs ,which have a superior range of 186 miles.
Ukraine does actually have some access to a few long-range missiles already.
The problem comes down to the West’s refusal to allow Kyiv to fire the missiles into Russian territory.
Kyiv’s Western allies only allow Ukraine to use the weapons to fire at targets within its own borders, as a form of defence rather than offence.
And Ukraine has used the weapons effectively to hit Crimea, the peninsula occupied by Russia since 2014, which has made it difficult for Vladimir Putin’s troops to stay there.
But, as Kyiv has hit a wall when it comes to driving Russian troops out of the 18% of Ukrainian land they continue to occupy, it recently pivoted to a new strategy – occupying a part of Russia.
Last month, Ukraine surprised everyone by seizing the Russian region of Kursk.
Although it ended up holding just a fraction of the land Russia has seized in Ukraine, Kyiv’s actions caused fury within the Kremlin and appeared to give Ukraine more hope of winning the overall war.
In the meantime, Russia is still launching devastating attacks against Ukraine from behind Russian borders.
Kyiv says not being able to target the place these attacks are coming from is seriously hindering it.
Zelenskyy said on Sunday: “This terror can be stopped. But to stop it, the fear of making strong, objectively necessary decisions must be overcome. Only decisiveness can bring a just end to this war. It is decisiveness that most effectively protects against terror.”
Claiming there were around 30 missiles launched at Ukraine over the last week – along with more than 800 guided aerial bombs and nearly 300 strike drones, the Ukrainian president said: “Ukraine needs strong support from our partners to defend lives against Russian terror-air defence, long-range capabilities, support for our warriors. Everything that will help force Russia to end this war.”
Ukraine has its own long-range drone programmes which have occasionally hit within Russia but they cannot carry much and are frequently intercepted.
Five former defence secretaries and former PM Boris Johnson encouraged Starmer to give the go-ahead for Ukraine to use the Storm Shadow missiles, saying a delay to Ukraine’s request will only end up helping Putin.
Indeed Russia has already started to build up its defences in case the West does agree to the request, moving bombers, missiles and infrastructure further from the border so Storm Shadows cannot reach it.
Why does the UK need the US to allow Ukraine to have it?
The UK has already indicated that it is considering a shift on its stance on long-range missiles. But it all rests on the US.
The Times has been told the UK will not go “alone” in providing these weapons to Ukraine because the American guidance systems are crucial to making sure the missiles hit intended targets such as airfields and oil depots.
Foreign secretary David Lammy did not say this specifically, but he told the BBC that it was important to have a “shared strategy” among Ukraine’s allies.
Why is the US being hesitant?
Biden and Starmer met in Washington last week, but did not announce any new plans to issue long-range missiles.
The US is particularly worried about escalating the Ukraine-Russia war into an international conflict – or a nuclear battle.
If, say, Putin decided to attack Poland, that would turn it into a Russia vs Nato conflict.
The US has allowed Ukraine to use missiles to target occupied parts of its land, including the areas Russia has illegally annexed and claims as it’s own – however, these regions are not internationally recognised as part of Russia.
Putin also claims that Ukraine cannot use long-range missiles without Western specialists’ support.
He said the “only servicemen of countries can input flight missions into these missile systems”.
The Russian president also claimed if Ukraine used the West’s long-range missiles would put the defence alliance “at war with Russia”.
He claimed Kyiv needs the West’s satellite intelligence, which neither the West nor Kyiv have commented on.
But the White House has shrugged off these threats so far.
Biden told reporters on Friday: “I don’t think much about Vladimir Putin.”
The US could end up changing its mind over the permissions surrounding the long-range missiles later this month, when UN general assembly meets in New York.