KYIV: The United States and Britain on Wednesday pledged nearly $1.5 billion in support for Ukraine and vowed to quickly consider requests to ease arms restrictions to strike deeper into Russia.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy made a rare joint visit to Kiev in a show of solidarity as concerns grow.
Russia's alleged purchase of new short-range Iranian missiles threatens to increase Moscow's firepower, and the US election less than two months away could dramatically change the position of Ukraine's main backer.
Blinken, who made the nine-hour train ride to Kiev with Lammy, said the United States would provide $717 million in new economic aid to Ukraine.
About half of that will be US support for strengthening Ukraine's electrical infrastructure, which has been hit by Russia just as winter approaches.
Blinken accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dusting off his “winter playbook” to “weaponize the cold against the Ukrainian people”.
“Our support will not decrease, our unity will not break,” Blinken told a joint news conference in Kiev.
“Putin will not outlast the coalition of countries committed to Ukraine's success, and he certainly will not outlast the Ukrainian people.”
Lammy recommitted his two-month-old Labor government to providing 600 billion pounds ($782 million) in economic aid to Ukraine.
He said Britain, which has consistently pushed for the relaxation of restrictions on Ukraine's use of the weapons, would supply hundreds of new air defense missiles to Ukraine this year.
Russia advanced on the key logistics hub of Pokrovsk in eastern Donetsk region, a month after Kiev launched a shock counter-offensive in Russia's Kursk region.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has stepped up his demands in recent months for the West to provide weapons with more firepower and fewer restrictions.
“It is important to lift any restrictions on the use of American and British weapons against legitimate military targets in Russia,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga told the joint conference with his counterparts, who previously met with Zelensky.
Blinken said the United States would review the requests “with urgency” and that they would be discussed in Washington on Friday, when President Joe Biden meets with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Biden, asked in Washington on Tuesday whether he would let Ukraine use longer-range weapons to strike Russian targets, said: “We're working that out right now.”
Biden, while a staunch supporter of Ukraine, has previously said he wants to avoid engaging in a direct conflict between the United States and Russia, the world's two major nuclear powers.
Asked how Moscow would respond to the extended range of the missiles, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that the response “will be appropriate,” without giving specifics.
He said authorizing Ukrainian strikes on Russian soil would serve as “further evidence” of why Moscow launched its offensive, which he said was itself a “response” to Western support for Ukraine.
The United States has said it believes Russia could start firing Iranian-made short-range missiles into Ukraine within weeks.
Cash-strapped Iran has pushed ahead with missile sales despite repeated warnings from Western powers, which announced new sanctions against the cleric-led state on Tuesday.
Iranian shipping has raised fears that Moscow will be freed to use its long-range missiles against relatively unscathed areas of western Ukraine.
The United States earlier this year gave its blessing for Ukraine to use Western weapons to strike Russian forces when they are in conflict directly across the border.
British media reports said Biden would end objections to letting Ukraine fire long-range Storm Shadow missiles into Russia.
A key demand from Ukraine is to loosen restrictions on the US-supplied Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, which can hit targets up to 300 kilometers (190 miles) away.
Both Republican and Democratic members of Congress pushed Biden to fast-track ATACMS immediately.
Republicans, however, are deeply divided over Ukraine, and a victory in November by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump over Biden's political heir, Kamala Harris, could dramatically change US politics.
Trump aides have suggested that if he wins, he will use the aid to force Kiev to make territorial concessions to Russia to end the war.
At a debate with Harris on Tuesday, Trump — who has expressed admiration for Putin in the past — specifically did not say he wanted Ukraine to win, just that he wanted to end the war quickly.
