U.S. President Joe Biden dismissed military threats made by Russian President Vladimir Putin as he met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the White House on Friday.
Biden said he couldn't accept the idea that Ukraine using Western-made Storm Shadow missiles to bomb Russian targets was the same as NATO going to war with Moscow.
“I haven't really thought much about Vladimir Putin,” Biden said at a foreign policy summit on Friday afternoon.
Biden and Starmer's top foreign policy teams were meeting in the White House Blue Room when Sky News' James Matthews jumped to conclusions early, asking Biden: “What do you think about Vladimir Putin's threats of war?”
Biden scolded the president, saying, “Quiet up, I'm going to do the talking now,” before launching into his prepared remarks.
Also attending the Blue Room meeting were US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy. Other British participants included National Security Adviser Tim Barrow and Starmer's chief of staff, Sue Gray.
Starmer flew from London on Thursday to attend the working-level meeting amid rising tensions with the Kremlin after Britain suggested the United States had agreed to allow Ukraine to bomb Russia with Storm Shadow missiles.
Speaking after the summit, Starmer said the meeting was not about any specific decisions on Storm Shadow. “Yes, we have had long and productive discussions, discussing strategic and tactical decisions on a number of issues, as you would expect, Ukraine, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific,” he said.
But Biden suggested the issue was under discussion among leaders and their teams. In response to a shouted-out question about when Ukraine would be ready to launch missiles deeper into Russia, Biden said, “We're going to discuss that now.”
Presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump were both campaigning and therefore not in the capital so were unable to meet Starmer.
Starmer said he had not spoken to Harris. The prime minister spoke briefly to Trump, who survived an assassination attempt in the summer.
British Storm Shadow missiles, made by European companies, can hit targets at least 190 miles away and Ukraine wants to use them to bomb airbases, missile sites and other military targets in central Russia.
Earlier, Russia announced it had revoked the qualifications of six British diplomats in Moscow on suspicion of espionage.
Moscow's domestic intelligence agency, the FSB, said on Friday it acted on documents showing that parts of Ukraine's foreign ministry were helping to coordinate “an escalation of the political and military situation.”
But the Foreign Office said the transfers were made last month amid an ongoing diplomatic exchange, and sources said British diplomats had left Russia several weeks ago and were now being replaced.
“The accusations made today by the FSB against our personnel are completely baseless… We will not compromise in defending our national interests,” a foreign ministry spokesman said.
In May, the British government expelled a Russian defence attache for being an undeclared spy and stripped diplomatic status from several Russian-owned buildings in the UK.
The White House said the meeting took place at the request of the UK and followed a brief one-on-one meeting between the two leaders.
No press conference has been scheduled and for several days the British side has tempered expectations of an official announcement about the use of Storm Shadow in Ukraine.
Following discussions about the possible use of the missiles, Putin warned on Thursday that allowing Ukraine to use Western-made long-range missiles would be tantamount to NATO going to war with Russia.
But Starmer told reporters on a flight to Washington: “This conflict was started by Russia. Russia has illegally invaded Ukraine. Russia can end this conflict immediately. Ukraine has the right to defend itself.” Putin was expected to counter talk of fresh aid to Kiev with threats.
Ukrainian President Volodymy Zelensky has been seeking permission to use the missiles for months, including in meetings this week with Secretary of State Lammy and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
British sources said London and Washington had decided to allow Ukraine to use the long-range missiles but were not yet willing to announce it, with Western officials adding that the deployment should be part of a wider plan to end all-out war.
Zelenskiy on Friday pleaded with the United States and Britain to speed up the process and allow Kiev to make the war “harder for Russia.”
“When you look at a map of where Russia launches attacks, where it trains its troops, where it holds reserve forces, where its military facilities are located and what logistics it uses, it becomes clear why Ukraine needs long-range capabilities,” he said in a lengthy statement on social media.
Ukrainian leaders are frustrated that while the Kremlin can launch deadly missile attacks across Ukraine, it cannot target facilities inside Russia because the weapons available are manufactured in the West and so far no Western government has approved their use.
The Storm Shadow is manufactured by companies controlled by British, French and Italian interests, and some of its components are of U.S. origin, meaning all four countries can reject its use. Ukraine has only a very limited long-range missile capability of its own.
The Russian embassy in London said Britain was wasting money on aiding Ukraine, that donated weapons “will probably go up in smoke” and that the policy of supporting Kiev “will provide no relief to ordinary Britons preparing to save as winter approaches”.
