After weeks of warnings from former President Donald Trump that the Biden Administration has the world on the brink of nuclear war, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reportedly is set to announce that Ukraine has been given the green light to strike deep inside Russia using Western made Storm Shadow missiles.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin warned on Thursday that such a move “would mean that NATO countries, the United States and European countries, are at war with Russia. And if this is the case, then, bearing in mind the change in the essence of the conflict, we will make appropriate decisions in response to the threats that will be posed to us.”
Blinken concluded a three-day Ukraine-focused European tour on Thursday with a stop in Poland after hearing repeated appeals from Ukrainian officials to use Western-supplied weaponry for long-range strikes inside Russia.
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Blinken traveled to Warsaw after spending a day in Kyiv with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy during which they pledged to bring the Ukrainian requests to their leaders.
Blinken said: "We went to Kyiv to underscore our united and unwavering support for Ukraine, faced with the ongoing Russian aggression – the United States, United Kingdom, but also united with so many other countries who have come together in support of Ukraine, all committed not just to helping Ukraine ward off the aggression, but committed to Ukraine’s long term success, its success as a country that stands strongly on its own two feet militarily, economically, democratically. And in our conversations in Kyiv, we talked about our shared strategy to get there."
Grzegorz Braun, a Polish member of the European Parliament, slammed the U.S. secretary of state: "Blinken, go home as soon as possible. Get lost! We don't want you here. We don't want Polish people paying and dying for your wars."
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday said he held "productive" talks with Joe Biden about Ukraine – but did not signal any decision on allowing Kyiv to fire long-range missiles into Russia.
Starmer said the talks in Washington concentrated on "strategy", rather than a "particular step or tactic."
The White House said the pair had also expressed "deep concern about Iran and North Korea's provision of lethal weapons to Russia."
Early on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had launched over 70 Iranian-made drones across Ukraine overnight, and that his country needed more air defense and long-range capabilities "to protect life and our people."
Mark Cancian, a military analyst at the Center for Strategic and Institutional Studies, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: “I expect that we will see an announcement shortly about relaxing the restrictions. There has been tremendous buildup, and it would be very hard to backtrack.”
“I suspect the United States and the UK are hammering out the conditions, in particular the target sets, because they will want to limit the strikes to military targets to avoid civilian casualties and suffering,” Cancian added.
The likely permissible targets for long-range strikes will include airfields, logistics hubs, depots, and headquarters, he said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined in the warmongering.
Trudeau said Ukraine should be allowed to strike deep inside Russia, despite Moscow threatening that this would draw Canada and its allies into direct war.
“Canada fully supports Ukraine using long-range weaponry to prevent and interdict Russia’s continued ability to degrade Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, and mostly to kill innocent civilians in their unjust war,” Trudeau told reporters at a news conference in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, on Friday.
Polish people are concerned the USA is about to start WW3.
Polish MEP Braun on Antony Blinken visiting Poland today: "Blinken, go home as soon as possible. Get lost! We don't want you here. We don't want Polish people paying and dying for your wars." pic.twitter.com/VXG38DVXxH — Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) September 13, 2024
Secretary Blinken, President Biden — STOP IT! Stop this reckless escalation. I say this not as a political partisan, but simply as a citizen of the world. https://t.co/cEdcFcqkz6
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) September 14, 2024
