After talks in Washington reached a stalemate, Sir Keir Starmer is urged to go it alone exclusive
Caroline Wheeler and Tim Shipman
September 14, 2024
The Times
Five former defence secretaries and an ex-prime minister have urged Sir Keir Starmer to allow Ukraine to use its long-range Storm Shadow missiles to strike inside Russia — even without US backing.
Grant Shapps, Ben Wallace, Gavin Williamson, Penny Mordaunt, Liam Fox and Boris Johnson warned the PM that any further delay would embolden Vladimir Putin. Wallace said that failure to move now would make Britain “appeasers” of the Kremlin, while Williamson called it a “dereliction of duty” and Boris Johnson added: “There is no conceivable case for delay.”
Starmer flew to Washington for talks with President Biden on Friday to discuss pleas from President Zelensky for permission to use the British-made missiles. However, the meeting broke up without any agreement.
Pressure has been growing on the UK and the US to allow the use of Storm Shadow missiles after it was claimed last week that Russia had received new deadly ballistic missiles from Iran for use in Ukraine. Senior security sources believe Russia has shared nuclear secrets with Iran in return for the missiles.
The row over whether western missiles can be used to strike targets across Ukraine’s border follows similar delays over decisions on supplying tanks and fighter jets.
Leading the chorus of voices calling on Britain to act unilaterally, Shapps said: “Rather than waiting for formal approval from the US, Sir Keir needs to provide President Zelensky with what’s desperately needed today. That’s how we assumed our global leadership position in supporting Ukraine. We acted. Others followed. And it’s the kind of leadership that’s required again for Ukraine today.”
Wallace added: “Britain is in danger of falling behind into the pack of ditherers, appeasers and delayers, when the only real way to stand up to a bully such as Putin is to be strong, united and determined to see it through.”
Both he and Williamson believe Britain should maintain its role at the forefront of support for Ukraine. “Britain’s leadership from the outset was vital in galvanising the international response,” Wallace said. “We were the first in Europe to put in lethal weapons and we have continued to support Ukraine all the way through.”
Williamson added: “From the start of this war Britain has not hesitated to take a lead to step forward when others have hesitated.” “Starmer needs to show that same leadership and determination. Failing to do so would be a dereliction of his duty.”
Insiders say the White House talks, which lasted 90 minutes, were “very open” about “the choices ahead of us”. But it can be revealed that Biden and his team signalled that they want to go into a “holding pattern” until Zelensky has presented his “victory plan” — before giving their approval for attacks inside Russia.
This surprised British officials who had listened closely to hints from Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, that America was edging towards authorising Storm Shadow, an Anglo-French weapon which relies on American GPS guidance systems.
The Ukrainian president is due to unveil his plan when he attends the UN General Assembly in New York later this month. Zelensky is expected to brief Biden’s team and then discuss his plans with both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, the two candidates vying to replace the US president after the November election.
Starmer spent a period on Friday morning at the British embassy in Washington on video calls with his ambassadors in both Kyiv and Moscow. “He wanted to make sure he had the latest analysis from the ground,” a source said. Ringing in his ears were the pleas of the Zelensky government to finally let them strike deep in Russia and a warning on Thursday from Vladimir Putin that this would mean “war”.
The government has repeatedly said they need the approval of both the US and France before allowing Zelensky full use of the missiles. In fact this is not absolutely correct, but it is practically true. Bluntly, Britain could fire Storm Shadows without US approval or assistance, but they might be intercepted by Russian air defences or be diverted off-course.
The missiles don’t fly straight to their target, defence officials say; they are effectively “threaded through the eye of a needle” using GPS and terrain mapping data. “You could absolutely fire it unilaterally, but it probably wouldn’t survive in the contested, electronically jammed environment that the Russians have,” a British defence source said. “Russian electronic warfare has rendered GPS useless. They jam it. So it has to use another type of data set instead, which is American owned.” This is classified but likely to be linked to the ground-mapping capabilities.
Sources in London say there is a split in Biden’s team between Blinken and Jake Sullivan, the doveish US national security adviser, who held “Sherpa” talks before the White House meeting with Tim Barrow, his opposite number. “The problem is Sullivan, not Blinken,” a British defence source said. “All the way through it has been Sullivan.”
A political source did not dispute that there were differences in Washington and added: “I think it would be fair to say that Antony Blinken was leaning in that direction.” However, there are hints that even if Biden is not prepared to publicly give the green light, he is willing to approve the use of US intelligence and targeting systems to accompany the Storm Shadow, which is jointly produced by Britain, France and Italy.
Starmer, while not explicitly committed to giving the green light, has faced down an attempt by the Foreign Office to get Britain to change its stance on Ukraine and “get back in the pack”, so the UK is no longer the most forward-leaning member of the western alliance in advocating the arming of Ukraine. Yet he is still keen to have explicit US sign-off. A source close to the prime
minister said: “This is something that you would want to do with key Nato allies aligned on the issue.”
A senior Tory familiar with Sullivan’s views said he had been sceptical about Ukraine’s ability to win the war since its outset in 2022. “Part of it is America, deep down, has found it difficult to believe that Ukraine can do what it’s done. When it started, we all thought this would be over in three weeks. But Ukraine’s response was extraordinary. Britain has adapted; some Americans still doubt they can win.”
The source compared this to America’s willingness to leave Britain alone to face Nazi Germany in 1940. “America didn’t think we could really win — that’s why we were on our own in the Battle of Britain. That’s why we got loans, not gifts. So there’s a lot of similarities here.”
Biden and Starmer also discussed intelligence showing that Russia had shared nuclear secrets with Iran in return for missiles — a factor which has implications for Israel, which has been attacked directly by Tehran. That came after Blinken revealed last week that Russia has acquired ballistic missiles from Iran. He also warned about nuclear data being shared, adding: “Russia is sharing technology that Iran seeks — this is a two-way street — including on nuclear issues, as well as some space information.”
Putin stepped up his provocations against Britain last week. The Royal Navy and the RAF shadowed four Russian ships and submarines in the Channel and RAF jets scrambled to intercept a Russian strategic bomber.
However, British officials are bullish that Putin’s threats are empty. “They test our defences 20-plus times a year. Putin has been issuing these threats for more than two years and has never done anything about them. In the first 18 months they threatened nuclear retaliation 38 times. When we put tanks in, he said that he would target Nato bases. How’s that going?”
They make the point that Storm Shadow missiles have already been used against Russian targets in Crimea, “which Putin regards as part of Russia”, rendering the Black Sea fleet practically useless. One source said: “Storm Shadows annihilated his navy headquarters in Crimea and killed about 300 people. We’ve already crossed the line. Putin’s red lines have evaporated.”
If their use were to be expanded, Storm Shadows — and the French version, Scalp — could give significant help to Ukraine, putting Russian airfields, vehicle repair centres, oil refineries and command headquarters within reach.
Starmer’s key officials are keen to make progress before a possible Trump triumph in the US election. In last week’s election debate, the Republican presidential candidate refused to say that he wanted Ukraine to win and has previously vowed to bring about peace. Some in London think Biden is reluctant to commit since it might hurt vice-president Harris’s chances of winning the election. However, the president and his team gave no hint of this when they met Starmer on Friday.
In addition to Storm Shadow, the two sides discussed economic support, including “unlocking” financial aid pledged by the G7 group of developed nations. Starmer is due to meet his Italian
counterpart, Giorgia Meloni, on Monday for talks in which the situation in Ukraine is likely to feature. The former defence secretary Grant Shapps revealed that Italy had donated Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine in April.
The prime minister also plans to visit Australia on his way to the Commonwealth heads of government summit in Samoa in October. The trip is designed to reaffirm the UK’s support for the Aukus defence pact with the US and Australia, support for which Starmer reaffirmed in the Friday meeting at the White House.
But some think he could do more. Wallace is pressing for the West to give military training to a million Ukrainians, who would then be better prepared if they were conscripted. He also wants to see the UK defence manufacturers go on to more of a war footing.
Mordaunt and Fox argued that failure to act would imperil Zelensky and embolden Putin. “Ukraine’s allies already know that without being able to strike the source of these attacks, the Ukrainians cannot prevent the continued slaughter of their citizens nor improve their odds,” Mordaunt said.
Fox added: “There is uncertainty about the reaction by Putin if the West unties Ukraine’s hands and allows it to properly defend itself. There is little uncertainty, however, about how a brutal regime will react if its illegal and bloody war is allowed to succeed.”
Johnson, who has been visiting wounded veterans in recovery centres in Kyiv this weekend, said it was “heartbreaking” to meet casualties whose injuries could have been avoided if the use of the Storm Shadow missiles within Russia had been granted sooner. “There is no conceivable case for delay,” he said. “The only person who fears escalation is Vladimir Putin and every day that goes by is a lost opportunity to save lives and bring about a just conclusion to this war.”
Caroline Wheeler is the political editor at The Sunday Times. She has broken numerous agenda-setting stories on the Covid pandemic, including Boris Johnson’s plans to introduce tougher restrictions for Christmas 2020. Caroline exposed Operation Yellowhammer, the government’s secret contingency plan for a hard Brexit, and the revelation that Theresa May would opt for a snap general election in 2017, a decision that would wipe out her parliamentary majority. Caroline has also covered the NHS contaminated blood scandal for 20 years, since she was a junior reporter in Birmingham.
Tim Shipman is chief political commentator at The Sunday Times after serving eight years as political editor. He has written two books — All Out War and Fall Out — on Brexit. Tim was named Print Journalist of the Year by the London Press Club in 2017, and in 2018 he won Political Reporter of the Year and Political Commentator of the Year at the British Press Awards. He won Political Reporter of the Year for a second time in 2019.