UK politics live: Starmer vows to support Ukraine’s ‘fight for freedom’ in meeting with Biden in Washington

Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to support Ukraine’s “fight for freedom” in a bilateral meeting with US president Joe Biden in Washington.

Speaking at the White House, the UK prime minister said the next few weeks and months would be “crucial” for Kyiv’s fight against Russia which invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

It comes amid reports Sir Keir and Mr Biden could be on the cusp of allowing Kyiv to open up a new front in the war with Russia by lifting restrictions on the use long-range missiles .

Mr Zelensky has pleaded with allies for months to allow his military to fire long-range US ATACMS and British Storm Shadow missiles at Russian targets used to launch devastating daily attacks on Ukraine.

But in a message apparently timed for when Sir Keir and his entourage were over the Atlantic on their way to the US on Thursday, President Putin warned such a move would mean Russia would be “at war with Nato”.

When asked about what he thought about Mr Putin’s threats, Mr Biden bluntly replied that he “didn’t think about Putin much”.