US, UK secretly approve Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles against military targets inside Russia, says report

While the United States has signaled it will soon lift restrictions on Ukraine's use of Western-supplied long-range missiles against key military targets inside Russia, the United Kingdom has already removed such restrictions, a report says.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the capital Kiev on Wednesday, with Blinken stressing that Washington had “from day one” been willing to adapt its policy as the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine changed.

“We will continue to do this,” Blinken emphasized, just a day after Washington formally accused Iran of providing Russia with ballistic missiles, a claim strongly rejected by both Tehran and Moscow.

The UK, France and Germany - known as E3 - also denounced what they alleged to be “Iran’s export and Russia’s procurement of Iranian ballistic missiles” on Tuesday, imposing a wave of sanctions, along with the US, against Tehran.

The provocative move drew condemnation from the Islamic Republic, which criticized the "faulty intelligence and flawed logic" of Washington and the E3 that prompted them to impose sanctions on Iran.

In an article on Wednesday, the British daily The Guardian reported that Blinken gave his strongest hint that the White House is poised to lift its restrictions on Ukraine using long-range weapons supplied by the West for targeting key military sites inside Russia, emphasizing that the decision is understood to have already been made privately.

The daily, citing unnamed British government sources, also reported that a decision had already been made in London to permit Ukraine to use Franco-British long-range air-launched Storm Shadow cruise missiles on military targets inside Russia. However, this is not expected to be publicly announced on Friday when British Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets with US President Joe Biden in Washington, DC.

Iran: ‘Faulty intelligence, flawed logic’ driving force behind US, E3 sanctions

Foreign Minister Araghchi said “once again, US and E3 act on faulty intelligence and flawed logic.”

The sources further told The Guardian that Wednesday’s joint visit to Kiev by Blinken and Lammy to meet with Zelensky would not be occurring if there had not been a favorable decision about Storm Shadow.

The British daily added that a public announcement about the long-range missiles in Kiev would be seen as overly provocative. Additionally, it is likely that restrictions on Ukraine’s use of the missiles, which have a range of at least 190 miles, will continue to exist to prevent reckless or unnecessary attacks.

Zelensky has repeatedly announced that while he is grateful to the West for their military support, the volume of the aid and the speed of delivery is unacceptable.

Kiev claims that Russia continues to target various locations in Ukraine with missiles and glide bombs, complaining that being barred from striking the bases from which these attacks originate feels like fighting the war with one arm tied behind their back.

Russia launched its special military operation in Donbas on February 24, 2022. Since then, Western countries have been supplying the former Soviet republic with military equipment, turning the conflict into a full-fledged war, despite repeated warning by the Kremlin that such a policy will only prolong the war.

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