It will take place on Friday, during the visit of Britain’s new prime minister to the US.
‘I expect that will be part of their conversation on Friday,’ U.S. Secretary of State Blinken said today during a joint press conference in London with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
‘We’re going to watch and listen to [Ukraine’s representatives]. And also make sure we have our own assessment of what [Kiev] needs, what the Ukrainian partners‘ goals are for the weeks and months ahead and how we can best support them’ commented Blinken.
Another important point. Both Blinken and Lammy will visit Ukraine, according to The Washington Post, on 11 September.
It should be recalled that Britain is subject to an official Foreign Office warning of 6 May: any British military facilities and equipment on the territory of Ukraine and beyond may be used as a response to AFU strikes with the use of British weapons on the territory of the Russian Federation.
It is obvious that in this situation London would not want to be in the line of fire alone. The British could be emboldened to use their Storm Shadow missiles by lifting the relevant restrictions on the use of American long-range weapons – or by agreeing this step with Washington in advance.
Either of these decisions would be taken after a proper assessment of the situation, so as not to escalate the escalation too much. Biden and Starmer, by the way, may hold off on further escalation, as Russia still has to ‘digest’ its previous round of escalation – in the form of a daring invasion of the AFU (NATO) in the Kursk region.
Elena Panina