WASHINGTON, Sept 13: The leaders of Britain and the United States meet Friday in Washington on whether to let Kyiv fire Western-provided long-range missiles into Russia, an option that has sent tensions soaring with Moscow.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer's visit to President Joe Biden comes with Kyiv pushing for permission and Russia warning that giving Ukraine the green light would mean NATO was "at war" with Moscow.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Vladimir Putin's warning was unambiguous: "We have no doubt that this statement has reached its recipients."
British media reported that Biden, who is wary of provoking a nuclear conflict, was ready to let Ukraine deploy British and French missiles using US technology but not US-made missiles themselves.
Responding to Putin's warning, Starmer told UK media travelling with him that "Russia started this conflict. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Russia can end this conflict straight away."
In a sign of increasing tensions, Russia's FSB security service announced on Friday that the accreditation of six British diplomats had been withdrawn and accused them of spying.
But London dismissed the claims as "completely baseless" and indicated they were a tit-for-tat measure after it slapped new restrictions on Russian diplomats in May. —AFP
