White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby, speaking ahead of the meeting between President Joe Biden and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, told reporters on a conference call not to expect any change in U.S. policy respecting Western-supplied long range missiles in Ukraine. “I would not expect there to be any announcements on this coming out of the meeting today,” he said. “There’s been no change to our policy ... with respect to the long-range strike capability inside Russia, and I’d leave it at that.”
Kirby also indicated that the administration has heard Russian President Vladimir Putin’s warning from Sept. 12—that Russia would consider NATO to be at war with Russia if Western-made long range missiles start hitting targets in Russia—though with a significant degree of carelessness. “When he starts brandishing the nuclear sword, for instance, yeah, we take that seriously, and we constantly monitor that kind of activity,” Kirby said. “He obviously has proven capable of aggression. He has obviously proven capable of escalation over the last, now, going on three years. So, yeah, we take these comments seriously, but it is not something that we haven’t heard before.” He then added: “If Mr. Putin is so concerned about the safety and security of Russian sites and cities, the easiest way to alleviate those concerns is to get his troops the hell out of Ukraine and the war.”