Biden holds talks with Starmer over Ukraine missiles
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00:00President Biden hosted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the White House on Friday.
00:05Topping the agenda is support for Ukraine.
00:07Ukrainian leaders have really been pushing for the United States to let it strike deeper
00:11into Russian territory using Western-supplied weapons.
00:15Russian President Vladimir Putin, though, has said doing so would lead to war with NATO.
00:20President Biden was asked about that earlier on Friday.
00:22What do you think of Vladimir Putin's threat to war, Mr. President?
00:27I don't think much about Vladimir Putin.
00:30CBS News senior White House correspondent Weijia Jiang joins us now.
00:34Interesting that response.
00:35He doesn't think much about Putin, but certainly has to be part of that calculation.
00:40Weijia, so where does the White House stand on letting Ukraine go forward and using some
00:47of these Western-supplied weapons to fight back in any way they seem fit?
00:52We just heard from the spokesperson for the National Security Council earlier today, John
00:57Kirby, who said that we should not be expecting any sort of announcement on this front or
01:03a policy change on the part of the U.S.
01:06And what Ukraine is pushing for is to be able to use long-range missiles.
01:12They've already been using these, but not directly into the heart of Russia.
01:16And Zelensky argues that he believes having the opportunity to do that could be a game
01:21changer with regard to winning this war.
01:25But of course, as you mentioned, there are other calculations and reasons why there are
01:29regulations and rules on how to use U.S.-supplied weapons and even weapons that contain U.S.-made
01:38parts.
01:39We do expect that during their bilateral meeting, the U.K. prime minister put pressure on the
01:44president to reconsider, but it's not clear whether President Biden will or not.
01:51But as you heard right there, he did brush off comments from Putin, in which he said
01:57if Ukraine were allowed to use those missiles, it would be the equivalent of NATO attacking,
02:03since those weapons were from NATO allies, and therefore they would have to retaliate
02:08and warn there could be an escalation and, of course, a risk of a war, an even wider
02:14war.
02:15So even though the president said that he doesn't think much of what Putin says, of
02:19course, that has to be part of the calculation.
02:22In fact, that's exactly why they haven't put any U.S. boots on the ground, as an example.
02:27Yeah.
02:28Well, Weijia, beyond Ukraine, what more is on the agenda for President Biden and the
02:32British prime minister?
02:33Well, certainly, as you mentioned, this is at the top of their agenda, but they are also
02:38going to be talking about a potential cease-fire deal that has eluded the U.S. and all of its
02:43allies that are pushing for there to be one in Gaza.
02:47And so at this point, we know that the conversations are ongoing.
02:51In fact, all week there have been remote conversations between negotiators, but we're watching to
02:58see if there will be any more in-person meetings coming up, because that will really signify
03:02some kind of progress or at least a step forward, because every time we've gotten very close
03:08to a deal, it has fallen apart.
03:11And so, Lana, that is something that they'll be talking about, certainly, as they try to
03:15work together to end the war there as well.
03:19Yeah.
03:20Weijia Jiang at the White House.
03:21Thanks, Weijia.
03:22Sure.