Blinken announced a meeting between Biden and Starmer on September 13, at which they will discuss the permission of Ukraine to strike deep into the Russian Federation (corrected)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Joe Biden will meet this Friday, September 13. One of the topics of the meeting will be the permission for Ukraine to use US and British weapons deep into the Russian Federation.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced this at a press conference in Kyiv.

"In two days there will be a meeting of our leaders in Washington," said Blinken.

He also said that during his visit to Kyiv today, he discussed with representatives of Ukraine the issue of permission to strike Russia with long-range weapons.

"I will convey what I heard here to the president in Washington. Needs change, the battlefield changes. I am sure that it will continue, because the situation is changing. Escalation is a factor we take into account, but it is not decisive," the US Secretary of State said.

Corrected: In the previous version of the news, it was about the meeting between the President of Ukraine and the USA — this was what could be understood from the simultaneous translation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. However, the Presidentʼs Office clarified to Babel that such a meeting is currently not planned.

Ban on attacks of Ukraine deep into Russia by US and British weapons

Ukraine has long been asking its allies to allow their weapons to be used for long-range strikes deep into Russia. For such purposes, Ukraineʼs arsenal includes, in particular, American ATACMS surface-to-surface long-range missiles and British Storm Shadow long-range missiles.

However, none of these countries gave Ukraine permission to use their weapons for attacks deep into the Russian Federation. The US fears a possible escalation against the background of this decision. They also believe that lifting restrictions on long-range strikes will have no strategic significance in the war, because Russia has moved its most important targets, including aircraft, away from the border and made them inaccessible for strikes.

And Great Britain, in turn, cannot allow such strikes to Ukraine due to resistance from the United States.

Politico also wrote that the US is not lifting restrictions on long-range strikes against the Russian Federation in order to be able to improve relations with Moscow in the future.