KIEV: The United States and Britain pledged about $1.5 billion in aid to Ukraine on Wednesday and promised to quickly consider a request to ease arms restrictions aimed at striking deep into Russia.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy made a joint visit to Kiev to express solidarity amid growing concerns.
Moscow's firepower is under threat from suspicions that Russia has acquired new short-range missiles from Iran, while the U.S. presidential election in two months could dramatically change the position of Ukraine's biggest supporter.
Blinken, who rode the nine-hour train to Kiev with Rami, said the United States would provide Ukraine with $717 million in new economic aid.
About half of that will go to U.S. aid to bolster Ukraine's electricity infrastructure as Russia ramps up its bombing campaign as winter sets in.
Blinken accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of pulling out his “winter operation manual” to “weaponize the cold against the Ukrainian people.”
“Our support will not diminish, our unity will not be broken,” Blinken said at a joint news conference in Kiev.
“Putin will not outlast the coalition of nations committed to Ukraine's success, and he will certainly not outlast the Ukrainian people.”
Lamy has reiterated his pledge to provide Ukraine with £600 billion ($782 million) in economic aid after two months in office.
He said Britain, which has been pushing steadily to ease restrictions on Ukraine's use of weapons, would provide Ukraine with hundreds of new air defense missiles this year.
Just a month after Kiev launched a shocking counteroffensive against Russia in the Kursk region, Russia advanced on Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub in the eastern Donetsk region.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has in recent months increased his calls for the West to provide him with weapons with greater firepower and fewer restrictions.
“It is important to lift all restrictions on the use of American and British weapons against legitimate military targets inside Russia,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga said at a joint meeting with his counterparts who met with Zelensky.
Blinken said the United States would consider the request “urgently” and would discuss it in Washington on Friday when President Joe Biden meets British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Asked in Washington on Tuesday whether he would allow Ukraine to use long-range weapons to strike Russian targets, Biden said, “We’re discussing that right now.”
Biden has made clear that he strongly supports Ukraine, but wants to avoid escalating into a direct conflict between the world's two largest nuclear powers, the United States and Russia.
Asked how Moscow would respond to the missile range expansion, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that “there will be an appropriate response,” without giving specific details.
He said Ukraine's authorization to strike Russian territory would be “further evidence” of why Moscow launched the offensive, which he said was a “response” to Western support for Ukraine.
The United States says it believes Russia could launch short-range Iranian missiles toward Ukraine within weeks.
Cash-strapped Iran has pushed ahead with missile sales despite repeated warnings from Western powers, which announced on Tuesday they would impose new sanctions on the clerical-run nation.
The Iranian shipment raised concerns that Moscow would be able to use long-range missiles against relatively unscathed areas of western Ukraine.
The United States earlier this year authorized Ukraine to use Western weapons to attack Russian forces if they were to clash directly across its border.
According to British media reports, Biden is set to drop his opposition to Ukraine firing long-range Storm Shadow missiles at Russia.
One of Ukraine's key demands is to ease restrictions on the U.S. Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, which can strike targets up to 300 kilometers (190 miles) away.
Both Republicans and Democrats have urged Biden to take immediate and swift action on ATACMS.
But Republicans are deeply divided over Ukraine, and a victory by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump over Biden’s political successor, Kamala Harris, in November could dramatically change U.S. policy.
Trump's aides have suggested that if he wins, he could use the aid to end the war by forcing Kiev to cede territory to Russia.
In Tuesday’s debate with Harris, Trump — who has expressed admiration for Putin in the past — stopped short of saying he wanted Ukraine to win, saying only that he wanted to end the war quickly.
