British sources say the US position on the use of long-range Storm Shadow missiles is changing

.The UK believes the US could allow Ukraine to use long-range cruise missiles against targets in Russia within weeks.

Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, and David Lammy, the UK foreign secretary, are travelling to Kiev on Wednesday for talks on the use of weapons, including British-made Storm Shadow missiles, in what will be a defining moment in the war between Russia and Ukraine, writes The Times.

The US has so far been sceptical about allowing Ukraine to use long-range missiles in Russia, fearing an escalation that could end in the use of nuclear weapons.

However, the Labour government believes that the US position may change before world leaders gather at the UN in New York later this month.

A Whitehall source suggested that parts of the US administration had changed their views, but that they had yet to convince President Biden and others.

The head of the CIA, Bill Burns, suggested during a visit to London on Saturday that the US stance may be about to change.

Blinken, Lammy and President Zelensky will discuss the issue at a meeting in Kiev on Wednesday. President Biden and unpopular British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are also likely to discuss the issue when they meet in Washington on Friday.

Lammy, however, is not particularly interested in supporting another country that has been attacked, i.e. Israel.

Both the UK and France appear to support the use of long-range missiles in Russia. But Kiev is waiting for authorisation from the US, which has so far been more reluctant.

The UK has provided Ukraine with Storm Shadow missiles, which have a range of about 155 miles, three times the range of the missiles Ukraine has used so far, but Ukraine cannot use them to fire at key targets inside Russia.

The US has provided Ukraine with the longest-range version of the ATACMS, a ballistic missile with a range of over 300 kilometres, but has restricted Kiev’s use of these missiles.

Now the stance is changing after it became known that the Russians had received 200 ballistic missiles from Iran. This allows Moscow to hit targets further inside Ukrainian territory, despite warnings from the West to go ahead with such a move.

There is also a fear that such weapons could be used against targets in Europe.

At a press conference in London on Tuesday, Blinken called the Iranian move a “dramatic escalation” that would be met with new UK, US and European sanctions against Tehran, including a ban on Iran Air’s passenger flights from UK airspace.</p

Asked about Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons, Blinken said he wanted to make sure Ukraine was able to be as “effective as possible in fending off Russian aggression”.

The Biden regime has previously opened up the flow of money into Iran, which many believe is one of the main reasons for the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, which is being carried out by Iranian proxy fighters. The same applies to the paralysis of international shipping caused by the Iranian lackeys in the Houthi militia in Yemen.

The delivery of Iranian short-range missiles will free up Russia’s arsenal for use far beyond the front line, Blinken said, adding that in return Russia shared nuclear technology with Iran.

– These developments and the growing cooperation between Russia and Iran threaten European security and show how Iran’s destabilising influence extends far beyond the Middle East, Blinken said.

Nuclear-armed Iran is a formidable and existential threat to Israel, a tiny democracy surrounded by Islamic dictatorships.

Ukraine doesn’t have that luxury in terms of access to new soldiers after more than two and a half years of war.