The UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Joe Biden have discussed the possibility of allowing Ukraine to fire long-range, western-supplied missiles into Russia, though no formal announcement has been made. Vladimir Putin has warned that this move would essentially mean Nato joining the war. However, Western leaders have downplayed Putin’s threats, with Biden dismissing them as mere sabre-rattling. In response to the discussions, Moscow announced that it had revoked the accreditation of six British diplomats on charges of espionage.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy claimed that the incursion into Russia’s border region of Kursk had slowed Moscow’s advance on another front in Ukraine’s east. Zelenskiy also reported that 49 Ukrainian prisoners of war had been returned from Russia. In terms of military support, Romania has begun training Ukrainian F-16 pilots, and Germany has decided not to send the long-range missiles requested by Ukraine.
The situation in Ukraine remains tense, with drone fragments falling on a municipal building in Kyiv and Russia seizing control of certain localities. The US has imposed new sanctions on Russia for its actions, while Zelenskiy has announced plans to present a “victory plan” to end the war to Biden. Overall, Ukraine appears to be gearing up for further conflict, with a strong focus on defense spending in the approved 2025 budget.
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