British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is planning to urge President Biden to release $20 billion for Ukraine and back long-range strikes in Russian territory before President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated on January 20, The Telegraph has reported.
The $20 billion Starmer wants Biden to release is the US’s share of a $50 billion Group of 7 loan that will be provided to Ukraine and paid back with frozen Russian central bank assets, a step that will mark a significant escalation in the Western economic war against Moscow.
Starmer is looking to hold a face-to-face meeting with President Biden next week at the Group of 20 summit in Brazil. He is expected to ask Biden to give Ukraine permission to use British-provided Storm Shadow missiles to launch long-range strikes inside Russia, a step Russian President Vladimir Putin has made clear would risk nuclear war.
Starmer spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, and the two leaders discussed the possibility of getting the US to support long-range strikes in Russia. France has provided Ukraine its version of the Storm Shadow missile, known as the SCALP missile. Both variants have a range of about 155 miles.
The Telegraph previously reported that Starmer and Macron were plotting to thwart the incoming Trump administration from scaling down US support for Ukraine. They are hoping somehow that NATO-supported long-range strikes in Russia could help achieve that.
Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), who Trump has tapped to be his national security advisor, suggested in an interview last month that he would advise the president to support long-range strikes inside Russia as a way to bring Putin to the table. He also said the US could ramp up sanctions enforcement on Russia.
