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President Volodymyr Zelensky provided a detailed account to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy of why Ukraine needs permission to strike targets deep inside Russia, a source close to Zelensky told the Kyiv Independent on Sept. 12.
According to the source, the topic was the main part of the meeting between the three on Sept. 11 in Kyiv, which went well over the scheduled time.
Blinken and Lammy visited Kyiv amid mounting calls on Washington, London, and other partners to permit Ukraine to strike military targets deep inside Russian territory with Western arms.
Both Western diplomats are now returning from Ukraine in time for a meeting between U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and U.S. President Joe Biden on Sept. 13.
It remains unclear whether the decision on the long-range strikes will be taken during the Starmer-Biden meeting this week or later in September during a U.N. assembly in New York, the source said.
Zelensky previously said he would travel to the U.S. for the U.N. meeting and use the occasion to familiarize Biden with Ukraine's victory plan, without revealing many details.
The Kyiv Independent's source commented that Zelensky's trip to the U.S. is not yet certain as his travel schedule may change based on the "situation on the ground."
Ukraine has received shipments of long-range ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles from the U.S. and the U.K., but the two countries did not permit their use inside Russian territory so far.
While the Western countries eased restrictions on the use of certain arms just across the border after a Russian offensive in Kharkiv Oblast in May, limits on long-range strikes deep inside Russia remained in place.
Multiple Western outlets, such as Politico and the Guardian, recently wrote that this position may be shifting as U.S. and U.K. officials are preparing plans to ease the restrictions further.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
