The new British Prime Minister had his debut in high-stakes international affairs with his participation in the NATO summit celebration celebrating 75 years of the Western defense alliance – and immediately had to dispel rumors that his government would have authorized Ukraine to use Storm Shadows long-range missiles to strike inside Russia.
This was an awkward diplomatic moment for Sir Keir Starmer, as he tries to establish UK’s leadership in this geopolitical conundrum.
Telegraph reported:
“Downing Street said on Thursday, government policy ‘had not changed’ regarding the deployment of the long-range missiles, despite comments from the Prime Minister that suggested he was loosening restrictions on how the missiles are used.”
The official British Government policy has been to only allow Kiev to fire the missiles against targets in Crimea and mainland Ukraine.
Since the long-range missiles were delivered last year, they have not allowed Ukraine to use them to hit targets inside Russia.
The ‘awkward’ part is that it was comments from the Premier himself that led the international press to understand the change in policy.
The British position has long been stated by officials that there is concern that such a move would escalate the war, and could draw the UK into a conflict with Russia.
Kiev was quick to try to capitalize on the ‘misunderstanding.’
“Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president – who has been meeting world leaders at NATO’s 75th anniversary in Washington – announced on Wednesday evening that he had been granted permission to use strategic cruise missiles in Russia.
Posting on X, formerly Twitter, Mr. Zelensky shared a photograph of himself and Sir Keir, with the caption: “This morning, I learnt about the permission to use Storm Shadow missiles against military targets in Russian territory. Today, we had the opportunity to discuss the practical implementation of this decision.”
The missile has reportedly not been used this year.
Defense sources stated that permission to launch the strategic missile into Russia ‘would require a sign-off from three countries, one of which is the United Kingdom’.
France manufactures the Storm Shadow alongside the UK.
“’It’s not going to happen’, the source added when asked if Ukraine will fire Storm Shadow into Russia.”
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