Making use of all the fancy language he learned at Harvard and Columbia Law to announce a criminally demented policy, U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken acknowledged during a Sept. 11 press conference with British and Ukrainian Foreign Ministers, that there is a risk of escalation stemming from providing the Kyiv regime with the capability of long-range strikes against Russia. But, he argued, that risk is worth taking:
He responded to a question from Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post, saying: “You referenced escalation. Of course that’s one of the factors that we always consider, but it’s certainly not the only factor and it’s not necessarily a dispositive factor.” In other words, the risk of nuclear war is worth taking if it improves the prospects for the “strategic defeat” of Russia.
Earlier in the press conference, Blinken said that he and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy would be taking what they learned in their discussions in Kyiv back to their respective leaders, President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who will be meeting in Washington on Sept. 13. “Speaking for the United States, we have adjusted and adapted as needs have changed, as the battlefield has changed. And I have no doubt that we’ll continue to do that as this evolves,” Blinken said, suggesting that the U.S. intends to green-light the use of long-range missiles to attack deep into Russian territory from Ukraine.
“The escalator here is Putin. Putin has escalated with the shipment of missiles from Iran. We see a new axis of Russia, Iran and North Korea,” Lammy claimed. He urged China “not to throw in its lot” with what he called “a group of renegades.”
British government sources told The Guardian that a decision had already been made to allow Ukraine to use Storm Shadow cruise missiles on targets inside Russia, although it is not expected to be publicly announced when Starmer meets Biden tomorrow. The joint visit to Kyiv by Blinken and Lammy to meet Ukrainian President Zelenskyy would not have taken place had there been no positive decision regarding Storm Shadow, the sources added.
Blinken and Lammy meanwhile promised $1.5 billion in financial and economic aid to Ukraine, $700 million from the U.S. and $782 million from the U.K. At the same time, U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey announced another $600 million-worth of military support, “including air defense missiles, equipment for F-16 fighter jets, AS90 self-propelled guns and spare barrels, military boats, and maritime guns—have now been delivered,” according to the British statement. “On top of this, the Defense Secretary has today also announced that hundreds of additional air defense missiles, tens of thousands of additional artillery ammunition rounds, and more armored vehicles will be delivered to Ukraine by the end of the year.”