The US allegedly allowed Ukraine to fire British long-range Storm Shadow missiles deep into Russia. London is careful to make statements about this, only to officially confirm it after the use of missiles on the battlefield.
The British newspaper The Times writes about it with reference to sources.
The probable change in Londonʼs position is a consequence of the USAʼs permission to use its ATACMS long-range missiles. After the media began writing about the US authorization to strike deep into Russia with ATACMS missiles on November 17, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer tried to avoid questions about whether Ukraine had received similar authorization for Storm Shadow missiles.
A British government source says Starmer wanted to let Ukraine use its weapons as it wanted and put pressure on the US. However, his public statements were cautious. All because Storm Shadow missiles use American navigation data during flight.
By the morning of November 19, however, Starmer had thrown caution to the wind and hinted that the use of Storm Shadow missiles for long-range strikes against Russia was only a matter of time.
"We must provide Ukraine with everything it needs for as long as it needs to win this war. But Iʼm not going to get into operational issues, because then there will be only one winner — [Russian Federation leader Vladimir] Putin," Starmer said.
The change in wording was deliberate, senior British government officials told The Times. So they made it clear that the Americans had lifted the restrictions on the use of Storm Shadow.
After taking office as prime minister in early July, Starmer immediately made it clear that Ukraine "must decide for itself how to use [long-range missiles] for its own defense". Later, his rhetoric became more cautious, as US President Joe Biden refused to authorize strikes not only by ATACMS, but also by Storm Shadow.
News of Bidenʼs ATACMS decision came as Starmer prepared to fly to Rio de Janeiro for the G20 summit. In London, they already knew about this decision, which was made three days before the first publications in the media, but they did not expect that it would become known so quickly.
There were journalists on the plane with the prime minister, and there was no escaping questions about Storm Shadow. With no official confirmation yet on ATACMS, Starmer, after consulting with advisers, said he was not ready to comment on Storm Shadow.
- The Storm Shadow/SCALP EG long-range air-to-ground surface-to-air missile is a joint development between France and Great Britain. It is designed to destroy fortified ground stationary targets. The missile can break through the defense of powerful air defense systems, has a warhead of 450 kg and is capable of flying over 560 km.
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