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The West is unlikely to ease restrictions on long-range strikes against Russia before the UN General Assembly.
This was reported by Bloomberg.
During their visit to Kyiv on Wednesday, top diplomats from the UK and the US, David Lammy and Antony Blinken, did not rule out the possibility of granting President Zelenskyy’s request to use Western-supplied weapons for deeper strikes into Russia. However, they noted that President Joe Biden would discuss the matter with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer during a meeting in Washington on Friday.
The joint visit of Blinken and Lammy aimed to hear Zelenskyy’s plan for striking deeper into Russian territory and to discuss his long-term strategy for the upcoming year. This included understanding what Ukraine aims to target and why.
Their meeting with Zelenskyy lasted longer than expected. According to a source familiar with the discussions, Zelenskyy explained why Ukraine needs to carry out strikes inside Russia, focusing only on military targets and outlining military plans for the coming months.
Zelenskyy emphasized that during his meeting with President Biden in New York later this month, where global leaders will gather for high-level debates at the UN General Assembly, he would strengthen his call for easing restrictions on weapon use.
“Unfortunately, it doesn’t depend on my optimism but on theirs,” Zelenskyy said to reporters on Wednesday.
A decision on deeper strikes is unlikely to be made before the UN meeting in New York, although Biden may share his views on any potential policy changes, according to the report. Lammy confirmed this, noting that the UN session will be the next opportunity to discuss long-range missiles and continued support for Ukraine.
High-level debates at the UN General Assembly in New York are set to begin on September 24.
According to Politico, the White House is finalizing a plan to ease restrictions on Ukraine’s use of US-supplied weapons to strike Russian territory. The Guardian reported that the UK has already decided to allow Ukraine to use Storm Shadow cruise missiles on targets within Russia.
The Guardian reported that Great Britain has already decided to allow Ukraine to use Storm Shadow cruise missiles against targets on the territory of Russia.
Read also: Republicans urge Biden to lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of U.S.-provided long-range weapons
