The US has greenlit the use of Storm Shadow missiles against Russia, (Image: Getty)
The US has given the green light for Ukraine to use British Storm Shadow missiles to strike deep into Russian territory, it has been claimed.
Ukrainian media cited , which reported that the turning point was the arrival of North Korean troops in , according to a Foreign Office source.
Prime Minister Sir is reportedly keen to allow to begin using the British weapons, which have a range of just over 155 miles.
Asked at a press conference in Rio de Janeiro yesterday whether Britons should prepare for nuclear war, the Prime Minister hinted that the decision was imminent.
He said: “I’ve been really clear for a long time now, we need to double down. We need to make sure has what is necessary for as long as necessary, because we cannot allow Putin to win this war.
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“But I’m not going to go into operational matters, because there’s only one winner if I do that, and that is Putin.”
Insiders have suggested that previous objections by the United States have been dropped, clearly the way for the missiles to be used.
The projectiles rely on GPS, meaning they could only be used with the agreement of Washington.
Addressing concerns about possible escalation, he added: “This is irresponsible rhetoric coming from and that is not going to deter our support for .
“We’re now on day 1,000 of a conflict, that’s 1,000 days of Russian aggression, 1,000 days of sacrifices in .
“We have stood with from the start. I’ve been doubling down in my clear message that we need to ensure has what is needed for as long as needed to win this war against Putin.”
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Storm Shadow is an air-launched long range, conventionally armed, deep strike weapon (Image: MBDA)
Also speaking yesterday, Lord Admiral West, a Labour peer, said: “I think the Americans and ourselves have made it a huge cause célèbre and it shouldn’t be.
“Way back when, these things should have been released without making a big deal.
They’ve made it become a very big issue and I think that’s unfortunate.”
One Downing Street source said Sir Keir had deliberately been careful in his language.
They explained: “There are very good operational reasons why we need to be cautious in what we say. The last thing we want to do is hand Putin a strategic advantage on the battlefield.”
Sir Keir Starmer in Rio (Image: Getty)
Earlier this week gave the green light to begin using ATACMS missiles inside Russian territory.
Enraged Russian President subsequently lowered the threshold for using his nuclear arsenal, with the new doctrine announced Tuesday permitting a potential nuclear response by Moscow even to a conventional attack on by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power.
That could potentially include Ukrainian attacks backed by the US
Western leaders dismissed the Russian move as an attempt to deter ’s allies from providing further support to Kyiv, but the escalating tension weighed on stock markets after used American-made ATACMS longer-range missiles for the first time to strike a target inside .
Western and Ukrainian officials say been stockpiling powerful long-range missiles, possibly in an upcoming effort to crush the Ukrainian power grid as winter settles in.
According to manufacturers MBDA, Storm Shadow is an “air-launched long range, conventionally armed, deep strike weapon” designed to meet the demanding requirements of pre-planned attacks against high value fixed or stationary targets.
The statement adds: “Able to be operated in extreme conditions, the weapon offers operators a highly flexible, deep-strike capability based around a sophisticated mission planning system.”
Storm Shadow has been put into operations with the Royal Air Force and the French Air Force in 2003 and was used in the Gulf, Iraq and Libya.
The weapon is now in service with three other nations giving unrivalled deep strike capability. Storm Shadow is operated from Tornado, Rafale, Mirage 2000 and in the future from Eurofighter Typhoon.