JOE Biden may finally grant Ukraine permission to fire long-range missiles deep into Russia – all while Vladimir Putin continues to hoard missiles and dry-run nuclear weapons.
Following Donald Trump’s historic election win, Ukraine have been waiting with bated breath as to what his next move will be – but Biden may finally give the green light Ukraine have been looking for.
AFPUS President Joe Biden meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office of the White House in 2023[/caption]
East2WestYars intercontinental ballistic missile test launch at Plesetsk cosmodrome in October 2024[/caption]
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron are expected to make a final attempt to prevent Trump’s efforts to curtail US support for Ukraine.
The two world leaders are to discuss on Monday whether Biden can be convinced to give Ukraine permission to fire deadly Western Storm Shadow missiles.
According to the Telegraph, there’s hopes that Biden will finally give the approval to Kyiv in a last attempt to secure his foreign policy legacy.
Despite the long-range missiles being made by the UK and France, the deadly weapons require US technology to be overall effective.
Ukraine is only permitted to use missiles in limited circumstances on Russian soil, reports claim, while Zelensky has been pleading for permission to fire missiles further into Russia for months.
Meanwhile fears loom as Russian troops have been stockpiling missiles at airfields – thought to be for a horrific shelling of Ukraine.
According to a top Ukraine official, Russia are ready for “massive attacks”.
Andriy Kovalenko said on Telegram: “[Missiles] are accumulated at strategic aviation airfields and continue to accumulate. The aviation is also ready.”
And the Ukrainian Air Force reported that eight strategic bombers took off on Monday morning and were headed towards launch areas over the Caspian Sea in a nuclear dry-run.
Kovalenko also says that the Russians’ practice of simulated launch tactics adds to their terrifying readiness for deadly action.
He added that “the enemy uses it for psychological pressure”.
It comes days after a possible Trump plan to end the war emerged following a call with Ukrainian President Zelensky following his victory.
His plan involves a demilitarised zone across the front line and a promise from Kyiv not to join NATO for 20 years, the Wall Street Journal reports.
In exchange, the US would continue to arm Ukraine to the teeth to prevent Putin from invading again.
But the US would not send troops to enforce the buffer zone nor finance the mission.
Trump could greenlight Ukraine striking Russia with long-range missiles, ex-MI6 chief says
By Foreign News Reporter Ellie Doughty
DONALD Trump could give the go-ahead for Ukraine to hammer long-range missiles inside Russia, the former head of MI6 told The Sun.
Sir Richard Dearlove dismissed alarmist concerns following the Republican strongman’s epic election win and said he could crack down on Putin despite leaked plans suggesting a softer approach.
The ex-Spook insisted Trump wouldn’t “risk his reputation as a strong president by selling Ukraine down the river”.
Sir Dearlove said: “An awful lot of people are throwing their toys out of the pram and being very alarmed at this point in time.
“But I think we need to be much more balanced, much more reserved and, you know, take stock.
“Obviously there’s going to be momentum generated by his administration for some sort of deal or settlement in Ukraine.”
Ukraine has long pushed for a relaxing of permissions on its use of American and British weaponry – hoping to fire long-range rockets inside Putin’s territory.
Without air force cover to protect from enemy attacks, Kyiv’s forces argue the broader missile use would make all the difference in pushing back Russian forces.
Western allies have hesitated to green light their use for fear of escalation between Putin and Nato.
Sir Dearlove said: “I think that Trump is less risk averse than Biden was in terms of how American weapons might be used in Ukraine.
“So you could imagine a situation where he takes the restraints off Ukrainian use of longer range American missile capability which the Ukrainians will have.”
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East2WestBritish-supplied Storm Shadow missile from its Su-24 supersonic attack warplane[/caption]
President-elect Trump has made previous claims that he could end the war in Ukraine before winning the election.
He has frequently said with confidence that Russia “would have never attacked Ukraine” if he were president.
And he has also not been shy in praising mad Russian leader Vladimir Putin, having previously called him a “genius” and “savvy”.
Putin congratulated Trump on Thursday before labelling him a “real man” as he spoke to reporters in Sochi.
The Russian leader’s acknowledgement of Trump’s landslide win came just after top Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov spoke on the Republican’s desire to end the war in Ukraine within days.
During his turbulent campaign Trump confidently announced he plans to end the conflict in Europe within 24 hours of being in office.
Peskov called Trump’s comments an “overexaggeration”.
Despite the remark he did say Trump’s administration will be better placed to try and solve the conflict than Joe Biden‘s.
Peskov said: “Of course, there was a little bit of overexaggeration that he would be able to do it overnight.
“Certainly, there’s nothing that can heal this problem overnight.
“But at least if the new administration is going to look for peace, not for the continuation of the war, it will be better.”
Trump has previously been accused of harbouring close ties with Russia and Putin – something he has always strongly denied as a “hoax”.
During his time in the White House, Trump managed to keep Russia on his side and kept Putin at bay.
But early on during Biden’s reign Vlad launched his invasion.
AlamyDonald Trump with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, September 2024[/caption]
GettyMuch of Ukraine has been demolished by Putin’s military as Zelensky continues to call for global support[/caption]