WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are meeting Friday amid an intensified push by Ukraine to loosen restrictions on using weapons provided by the US and Britain to strike Russia. The talks come amid signs that the White House could be moving toward a shift in its policy.
Ukrainian officials renewed their pleas to use Western-provided long-range missiles against targets deeper inside Russia during this week’s visit to Kyiv by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UK Foreign Minister David Lammy. Blinken said he had “no doubt” that Biden and Starmer would discuss the matter during their visit, noting the US has adapted and “will adjust as necessary” as Russia’s battlefield strategy has changed.
The language is similar to what Blinken said in May, shortly before the US allowed Ukraine to use American-provided weapons just inside Russian territory. The distance has been largely limited to cross-border targets deemed a direct threat out of concerns about further escalating the conflict.
While the issue is expected to be at the top of the leaders’ agenda, it appeared unlikely that Biden and Starmer would announce any policy changes during this week’s visit, according to two US officials familiar with planning for the leaders’ talks who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.
In addition to Blinken, Biden also has hinted a change could be afoot. In an exchange with reporters earlier this week about whether he was ready to ease weapons restrictions on Ukraine, he responded, “We’re working that out now.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has pressed US and allied military leaders to go much further. He argues that the US must allow Ukraine to target Russian air bases and launch sites far from the border as Russia has stepped up assaults on Ukraine’s electricity grid and utilities ahead of the coming winter.
Zelensky also wants more long-range weaponry from the United States, including the Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, for strikes in Russia.
ATACMS wouldn’t be the answer to the main threat Ukraine faces from long-range Russian glide bombs, which are being fired from more than 300 kilometers (185 miles) away, beyond the ATACMS’ reach, said Lt. Col. Charlie Dietz, Pentagon spokesman.
American officials also don’t believe they have enough of the weapon systems available to provide Ukraine with the number to make a substantive difference to conditions on the ground, one of the US officials said.
During a meeting of allied defense ministers last week, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he did not believe providing Ukraine with long-range weapon systems would be a game-changer in the grueling war. He noted that Ukraine has already been able to strike inside Russia with its own internally produced systems, including drones.
“I don’t believe one capability is going to be decisive, and I stand by that comment,” Austin said.
Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, would not say Thursday if Austin’s views had changed since last week: “As of right now, the policy has not changed.”
Starmer said he was visiting Washington for “strategic meetings to discuss Ukraine and to discuss the Middle East.” It’s the prime minister’s second meeting with Biden since his center-left government was elected in July.
It comes after Britain last week diverged from the US by suspending some arms exports to Israel because of the risk they could be used to break international law. Both countries have downplayed their differences over the issue.
Biden and Starmer’s meeting also comes ahead of this month’s annual meeting of global leaders at the United Nations General Assembly. The Oval Office meeting was scheduled in part to help the two leaders compare notes on the war in Ukraine, languishing efforts to get a ceasefire deal in Gaza and other issues ahead of the UN meeting.
The White House also has sought in recent days to put a greater emphasis on the nexus between the war in Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East sparked after Iranian-backed Hamas militants in Gaza launched attacks on Israel on Oct. 7.
The Biden administration said this week that Iran recently delivered short-range ballistic weapons to Russia to use against Ukraine, a transfer that White House officials worry will allow Russia to use more of its arsenal for targets far beyond the Ukrainian front line while employing Iranian warheads for closer-range targets.
In turn, the US administration says Russia has been tightening its relationship with Iran, including by providing it with nuclear and space technology.
“This is obviously deeply concerning,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said of the missile transfer. “And it certainly speaks to the manner in which this partnership threatens European security and how it illustrates Iran’s destabilizing influence now reaches well beyond the Middle East.
US and British leaders set to discuss Ukraine’s push to ease weapons restrictions
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US and British leaders set to discuss Ukraine’s push to ease weapons restrictions
- The talks Friday come amid signs that the White House could be moving toward a shift in its policy
- Ukrainian officials renewed their pleas during this week’s visit to Kyiv by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UK Foreign Minister David Lammy
Putin says hit Ukraine with new mid-range ballistic missile
Russia struck the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro with a barrage of missiles early Thursday
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the country’s forces had hit Ukraine with a new mid-range ballistic missile.
Putin said in a televised address that Russia carried out “testing in combat conditions of one of the newest Russian mid-range missile systems... Our engineers named it Oreshnik,” which means hazel tree in Russian.
Russia struck the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro with a barrage of missiles early Thursday.
The Ukrainian air force and President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of apparently using an intercontinental ballistic missile, while Ukrainian experts were still examining the evidence to ascertain the type of missile used.
Putin said in his address that Russia launched a combined strike on a defense industry target in Ukraine.
He described Oreshnik as a “ballistic missile” that was deployed in this case “in a non-nuclear hypersonic configuration,” saying that the “test” had been successful and had hit its target.
Air defenses cannot intercept the Oreshnik, which attacks at a speed of Mach 10, or 2.5-3 kilometers per second, Putin said.
“Modern air defense systems... cannot intercept such missiles. That’s impossible,” he said.
“As of today there are no means of counteracting such a weapon,” the president boasted.
He said Russia was testing the Oreshnik in combat conditions “in response to the aggressive actions of NATO countries toward Russia.”
UK urged to honor ICC’s arrest warrants against Israeli leaders
- Warrants issued on Thursday against Israel’s ministers, officials of Hamas
LONDON: The British government has been urged by the Council for Arab-British Understanding to immediately honor International Criminal Court arrest warrants issued against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The ICC issued the warrants on Thursday for Netanyahu, Gallant, and an official of Hamas, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the war in Gaza and the attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, that triggered Israel’s offensive in the Palestinian territory.
CAABU director Chris Doyle emphasized the gravity of the situation, accusing the UK government of failing to hold Israel accountable for its actions in violation of international law.
Doyle said: “This decision highlights how woefully the UK government has handled the situation of Israeli atrocities and war crimes.
“It now must demonstrate, with concrete action, that this government will honor its pledge to uphold respect for international law and the ICC by abiding in full with the ICC decision.”
Doyle also called for immediate measures, including a full arms embargo on Israel, the cessation of military and security cooperation, and an end to arms sales while atrocities were allegedly being carried out in Gaza.
CAABU warned that failure to comply with the ICC’s warrants could severely damage the UK’s international standing, making it complicit in alleged crimes against humanity, including forced displacement, apartheid, and genocide.
“The UK’s reputation globally would be trashed,” Doyle cautioned.
The organization stressed that the ICC’s warrants represented a crucial step toward justice and accountability for Palestinians. However, Doyle stressed the need for swift action.
He said: “There is no time to wait; justice delayed is justice denied. The UK needs to uphold international law, accountability, and ensure justice with immediate effect by complying with these arrest warrants.”
The UK government has yet to issue a formal response to the ICC’s decision.
UK says it respects ICC independence as court issues arrest warrants
- PM Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said: “We remain focused on pushing for an immediate ceasefire to bring an end to the devastating violence in Gaza”
LONDON: Britain respects the independence of the International Criminal Court, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said on Thursday, after it issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his ex-defense chief and a Hamas leader.
“We respect the independence of the International Criminal Court, which is the primary international institution for investigating and prosecuting the most serious crimes of international concern,” the spokesperson told reporters.
“There is no moral equivalence between Israel, a democracy, and Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, which are terrorist organizations. We remain focused on pushing for an immediate ceasefire to bring an end to the devastating violence in Gaza.”
Russia fires what appears to be intercontinental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Kyiv says
- Western officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, later told Reuters their initial analysis showed it was not an intercontinental ballistic missile
- Regardless of its classification, the latest strike highlighted rapidly rising tensions in the 33-month-old war
KYIV: Ukraine said Russia fired what appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile at the city of Dnipro on Thursday, in what would be the first use in war of a weapon designed to deliver long-distance nuclear strikes.
Western officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, later told Reuters their initial analysis showed it was not an intercontinental ballistic missile, though they left open the possibility that conclusion could change.
Regardless of its classification, the latest strike highlighted rapidly rising tensions in the 33-month-old war.
Ukraine fired US and British missiles at targets inside Russia this week despite warnings by Moscow that it would see such action as a major escalation.
Security experts said that if Thursday’s strike involved an intercontinental ballistic missile, it would be the first use of such a missile in war. ICBMs are strategic weapons designed to deliver nuclear warheads and are an important part of Russia’s nuclear deterrent.
“Today there was a new Russian missile. All the characteristics – speed, altitude – are (of an) intercontinental ballistic (missile). An expert (investigation) is currently underway,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video statement.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry urged the international community to react swiftly to the use of what it said was “the use by Russia of a new type of weaponry.”
The Ukrainian air force said the missile was fired from the Russian region of Astrakhan, more than 700 km (435 miles) from Dnipro in central-eastern Ukraine. It did not specify what kind of warhead the missile had or what type of missile it was. There was no suggestion it was nuclear-armed.
Asked about the air force statement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters to contact Russian military for comment.
Ukrainska Pravda, a Kyiv-based media outlet, cited anonymous sources saying the missile was an RS-26 Rubezh, a solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 5,800 km, according to the Arms Control Association.
The RS-26 was first successfully tested in 2012, and is estimated to be 12 meters (40 ft) long and weigh 36 tons, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). It said the RS-26 can carry an 800-kg (1,765-pound)nuclear warhead.
The RS-26 is classified as an ICBM under a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and Russia, but it can be seen as an intermediate-range ballistic missile when used with heavier payloads at ranges below 5,500 km, CSIS said.
At least 38 killed as gunmen open fire on vehicles carrying Shiites in northwest Pakistan
- No one immediately claimed responsibility for the latest attack
- Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said at least 38 people were killed in the “terrorist attack“
PESHAWAR: Gunmen opened fire on vehicles carrying Shiite Muslims in Pakistan’s restive northwest on Thursday, killing at least 38 people, including six women, and wounding 20 others in one of the region’s deadliest such attacks in recent years, police said.
The attack happened in Kurram, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where sectarian clashes between majority Sunni Muslims and minority Shiites have killed dozens of people in recent months.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the latest attack. It came a week after authorities reopened a key highway in the region that had been closed for weeks following deadly clashes.
Local police official Azmat Ali said several vehicles were traveling in a convoy from the city of Parachinar to Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, when gunmen opened fire. He said at least 10 passengers were in critical condition at a hospital.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said at least 38 people were killed in the “terrorist attack.” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the attack, and Sharif said those behind the killing of innocent civilians will not go unpunished.
A witness, 35-year-old Mir Hussain, said he saw four gunmen emerge from a vehicle and open fire on buses and cars.
“I think other people were also firing at the convoy of vehicles from nearby open farm field,” he said. “The firing continued for about 40 minutes.” He said he hid until the attackers fled.
“I heard cries of women, and people were shouting for the help,” he said.
Baqir Haideri, a local Shiite leader, denounced the assault and said the death toll was likely to rise.
Shop owners in Parachinar announced a strike on Friday to protest the attack.
Shiite Muslims make up about 15 percent of the 240 million population of Sunni-majority Pakistan, which has a history of sectarian animosity between the communities.
Although they live together largely peacefully, tensions have existed for decades in some areas, especially in parts of Kurram, where Shiites are the majority. Nearly 50 people from both sides were killed over a land dispute in July when clashes between Sunni and Shiites erupted in Kurram.
Pakistan is tackling violence in the northwest and southwest, where militants and separatists often target police, troops and civilians. Most of the violence in these areas has been blamed on the Pakistani Taliban and the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army.
