David Cameron publicly said it was up to Ukraine to decide whether to use British weapons to strike targets on Russian territory earlier this month. But nothing has happened since then: no Storm Shadow missiles have flown over the Ukraine-Russia border. Last night, Volodymyr Zelensky explained why: the UK had not given ‘100 per cent permission’ to do so. ‘We raised this issue twice. We did not get confirmation from him [Cameron].’ In reality, Downing Street is waiting on the Americans, he said.
The calls for the US and other allies to allow Ukraine to strike Russian territory with western arms have grown louder after Russia launched a second offensive in the Kharkiv region. They came from senior diplomats and the masses on Twitter, where Ukrainians launched the #LetUkraineStrikeBack campaign. At least 12 western countries have given Ukraine permission to strike. But the biggest boon for Ukraine came last night, when Joe Biden gave Ukraine the go ahead to strike Russia with some American weapons – albeit with restrictions.
The West has stopped constantly worrying about the Kremlin’s reaction
The Biden administration has said that Ukraine may only strike Russian targets near the Kharkiv region.
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