Vladimir Putin is “increasingly erratic” and “volatile” in his behaviour which is creating instability in Ukraine and around the world, says a Cabinet minister.Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said Sir Keir Starmer and Joe Biden would be discussing the Russian president’s conduct at a meeting in Washington on Friday.The Prime Minister and US president are weighing up whether to allow Ukraine to fire missiles from the West deep into Russia, including British Storm Shadows.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Well, that is clearly going to be one of the items that they're going to discuss.
00:03I think they want to discuss Ukraine in the round.
00:05I think they want to understand where the conflict has got to.
00:09They want to try and understand the behavior of President Putin.
00:12He's increasingly erratic.
00:15His volatility is causing huge instability, not just in Ukraine and the immediate region,
00:20but around the world as well.
00:21I know that the two leaders are going to want to get together and talk about that, but also
00:25all of the big things that are happening in the world at the moment.
00:27These are two very significant powers.
00:29When America and the UK work together, then we can be a positive force in the world.
00:35And I think you'll see with Keir Starmer, Prime Minister, and with President Biden,
00:39you see a president who want to add up to a relationship that can be a positive force
00:43in the world.
00:44So they want to talk about the issue of long-range missiles being used by Ukraine, but will they
00:49make a decision today, and if not, when?
00:51Well, I imagine it will be on discussion simply because President Zelensky has asked for that
00:56to be discussed, and we have worked very closely with President Zelensky to be the
00:59partner that he needs in order to defeat Russia and make sure that Ukraine can be returned
01:05to a sovereign country that is secure, and then we can have a continent of Europe which
01:09again feels safe and secure under the threats posed by President Putin.
01:13So you can't tell me when that decision will come?
01:15Well, that is something that they are discussing actually today, so I can't pre-empt a discussion
01:19that hasn't taken place yet.
01:20But I know that it's something that they want to discuss in the round with the entire Ukraine
01:24situation.
01:25In response to this, President Putin has warned that NATO would be at war with Russia if this
01:29approval is given for the use of long-range missiles.
01:33How worried should we be by that threat?
01:36Well, President Putin has continually made threats, but the bottom line has never changed
01:41in this.
01:42If this war could end quickly, it could do so because of President Putin, who could decide
01:46to end this war straight away.
01:47He started the war, he did so in an illegal way, he did so in an unprovoked way.
01:52He could end the war by just turning off the aggression that he's shown consistently
01:56since the very beginning and return this continent to peace.
02:00I urge him to do so.
02:01You say that he's made these threats before.
02:03Is this situation different?
02:05President Putin says that the use of these long-range missiles, he suggests they can
02:09only be guided by satellite technology supplied by NATO.
02:15So he, as a result, says that would constitute direct participation by Western countries.
02:21Do you agree it does require greater involvement, the use of long-range missiles by the West?
02:26If President Putin wants to remove the threat of retaliation from Ukraine and President
02:33Zelensky in response to his aggression, he can do so straight away by ending the war.
02:38He has the power to do so.
02:40We urge him to do so.
02:41It is the swiftest way to bring this to a conclusion.