Summary
UK PM Keir Starmer is meeting with US President Joe Biden at the White House, where they're expected to discuss allowing Ukraine to use long-range weapons inside Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned against such a move, saying it would represent Nato's "direct participation" in the Ukraine war
Biden says Putin will "not prevail" in the war in Ukraine, during the meeting with Starmer
Earlier, Moscow expelled six British diplomats and accused them of spying - the UK Foreign Office said the claims were "completely baseless"
The timing of Moscow's move was no accident, our Eastern Europe correspondent Sarah Rainsford writes
What are Storm Shadow missiles? BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner writes here
Live Reporting
Edited by Brandon Livesay
Kremlin presenting Britain as 'leaders of anti-Russia campaign', expert sayspublished at 10:26 British Summer Time
10:26 BST
Jacqueline Howard
Live reporterThe Kremlin is attempting to present Britain at the front of the "anti-Russia campaign", a Russia specialist says, after Moscow withdrew the accreditation of six British diplomats.
Professor Mark Galeotti, an expert on modern Russia at the Rusi think tank, told me the move reflects that Russia is particularly annoyed with Britain, which, along with the US, is seen as leading military support for Ukraine.
It's bad news, he says, because the British embassy in Moscow is already "pared to the bone", and the UK needs to maintain its diplomatic connections with the country.
Prof Galeotti adds that Vladimir Putin appears more reckless than his Soviet Union predecessors: "They would occasionally expel diplomats believed to be spies or for political reasons, but they understood that it was important to have robust diplomatic connects."
"Putin has gone further and it is alarming," he says.
Putin draws new red line on long-range missilespublished at 10:03 British Summer Time
10:03 BST
Steve Rosenberg
Russia editorFrom the tone of President Putin’s latest remarks, it’s clear he considers that the targeting of internationally recognised Russian territory with Western missile systems would take the conflict to a new level. What he didn’t make clear is how Moscow would respond.
“We will take corresponding decisions based on the threats to us that will be created,” Putin said.
On Friday, Russia withdrew the accreditation of six British diplomats, accusing them of “subversive activities” and threatening Russia’s security.But Putin’s potential response is much broader.
He offered some clues back in June.At a meeting with the heads of international news agencies, he was asked: how would Russia react if Ukraine was given the opportunity to hit targets on Russian territory with weapons supplied by Europe?
“First, we will, of course, improve our air defence systems. We will be destroying their missiles,” President Putin replied.
“Second, we believe that if someone is thinking it is possible to supply such weapons to a war zone to strike our territory and create problems for us, why can’t we supply our weapons of the same class to those regions around the world where they will target sensitive facilities of the countries that are doing this to Russia?”
In other words, arming Western adversaries to strike Western targets abroad is something that Moscow has been considering.
Sending missiles into Russia won't win Ukraine the warpublished at 09:45 British Summer Time
09:45 BST
Jeremy Bowen
International editorUkraine has said it has a list of targets it would pursue if the West were to allow Ukraine to fire Western missiles into Russia.
What they won't be able to do is head off the current Russian campaign to capture Pokrovsk in the east, which is a very important railway junction.
So, throughout the war, as Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has pushed for stronger, better weapons, none of them have been a miracle in all of this, they have not given Ukrainians the victory they want, in fact far from it.
If Ukraine were to be permitted to send Western missiles into Russia, this might change some of the details of what is going on and will give Ukrainians, certainly, something else to hit the Russians with, but it won't win the war for Ukraine.
Putin is giving every indication that this is a very important strategic decision for him - that he doesn't want Ukraine to be a bastion of the West, and my view is the war will continue as long as he is in the Kremlin.
Poland's Tusk urges West not to overreact to Putin's escalation threatpublished at 09:26 British Summer Time
09:26 BST
Image source, EPAPoland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk says he's not worried by Putin's comments that Moscow would view Western missiles being fired into Russia as a serious escalation of the war.
"It is necessary to take all events in Ukraine and on the Ukrainian-Russian front very seriously, but I would not attach excessive importance to the latest statements from President Putin," Donald Tusk told a news conference.
"They rather show the difficult situation the Russians have on the front."
British embassy flouted diplomatic conventions - Russia's foreign ministrypublished at 09:08 British Summer Time
09:08 BST
The British embassy in Moscow had gone well beyond diplomatic convention, Russia's foreign ministry says.
Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the ministry agreed with the FSB security service's "evaluation of the activities of these so-called British diplomats".
"The British embassy has largely flouted the limits set by the Vienna Convention," she says, before going on to accuse the embassy of "actions aimed at causing harm to our people".
Putin's war warning isn't a dramatic change in rhetoricpublished at 08:42 British Summer Time
08:42 BST
Vitaliy Shevchenko
Russia editor, BBC MonitoringPutin’s threat to respond should Nato become “directly involved” in the Ukraine conflict by allowing Kyiv to strike Russian territory with Western-made long-range missiles marks an escalation, but not a dramatic change in rhetoric.
Kremlin-controlled media have long been saying that Western countries are already heavily involved in the war by providing weaponry, training, etc, and some Russian sources have even claimed that Western boots were already on the ground in Ukraine.
The point Russian media have been making repeatedly is that otherwise Russia would have crushed Ukraine a long time ago were it not battling “the whole of Nato”.
Also, Moscow has repeatedly said that it is prepared to use all available means to defend itself – including nuclear weapons “in case its sovereignty and territorial integrity are threatened“.
This is contained in its nuclear doctrine, and there have been suggestions coming out of Moscow recently that it may be changed, possibly to make the deployment of nuclear weapons easier.
This is how deterrence works – don't help Ukraine or else.
Diplomat row is 'punishment' for weapons talks - former security adviserpublished at 08:33 British Summer Time
08:33 BST
We're hearing reaction now from Lord Peter Ricketts, a former national security adviser, who says Russia's reported move to revoke the accreditation of six British diplomats in Moscow is "Russian punishment for the UK being seen as a cheerleader for supplying weapons to Ukraine".
He tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the reasons Russia's security service gave in its statement are "completely trumped up'.
"We're told the Russian spy agency has documents from a department in the foreign office, which say that the task of the embassy is ensuring Russia's strategic defeat against Ukraine.
"Well, surprise, surprise", says Lord Rickets.
"That has been British declared politics for two-and-a-half years."
The embassy is not a large one, Lord Ricketts adds, so this will, for a time, "diminish what the embassy can do".
PM defiant in response to Putin war threatpublished at 08:10 British Summer Time
08:10 BST
Chris Mason
Political editor, reporting from WashingtonThere was a clear defiance from the prime minister in response to President Putin's threat of escalation. Starmer repeatedly told us “Russia started this", Moscow caused the conflict and it could stop it.
The prime minister and other western leaders are guarded in their public remarks about a change in policy on the use of missiles but the diplomatic dashing to arrive at a decision is in plain sight.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken were in Kyiv this week.
On Sunday, Starmer will head to Rome - Italy currently holds the rotating presidency of the G7 group of industrialised countries. World leaders will gather at the UN General Assembly in New York a week later.
“There are really important developments likely in the next few weeks and months and therefore a number of tactical decisions ought to be taken,” Starmer says.
Russia can end war now, says Starmerpublished at 07:44 British Summer Time
07:44 BST
Image source, ReutersRussia started the conflict in Ukraine and can end it "straight away”, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.
His comments come after Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Russia would be at war with Nato if it allowed Ukraine to use long-range weapons to target Russia.
Starmer, who is in Washington for talks with US President Joe Biden, said: “Russia started this conflict. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Russia can end this conflict straight away."
He later added: “To reiterate, it was Russia who started this in the first place. They caused the conflict, they’re the ones who are acting unlawfully.”
Read more: Russia can end war now, says PM as Putin warns West
Is Putin's threat of escalation a bluff?published at 07:30 British Summer Time
07:30 BST
Frank Gardner
Security correspondentIs Vladimir Putin bluffing? That’s the calculation that strategic planners – and elected leaders – in Washington and other western capitals now have to make.
Those in favour of allowing Ukraine to fire long-range missiles into Russia argue that so far in this war, none of his so-called ‘red lines’ have amounted to anything.
The Russian leader hinted at retaliation if the West supplied Ukraine with main battle tanks, with long-range artillery and then with F16 warplanes. Each time nothing happened.
Putin already believes his country to be at war with Nato in all but name, so, some argue, what difference would this make? But if Russia did retaliate this time then it has a broad spectrum of options short of declaring war.
At the milder end of the spectrum, it could launch so-called ‘sub-threshold’ attacks, such as cyber attacks, interfering with undersea cables or sending drones to disrupt Western air traffic.
Other, far more dangerous but less likely options would include detonating a tactical nuclear warhead against Ukraine or attacking a weapons supply base inside a Nato country like Poland. And those scenarios are exactly what Washington is desperate to avoid.
Return to the latest post
What's the latest?published at 07:10 British Summer Time
07:10 BST
- Moscow has revoked the accreditation of six British diplomats, according to Russian media
- The Russian FSB security service says are suspected of espionage and "threatening Russia's security"
- It says that the move was a measure against "multiple unfriendly acts"
- Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested Moscow would regard Western missiles being fired into Russia as a serious escalation of the war
- It would “mean nothing other than the direct participation of Nato countries - the US and European countries - in the war in Ukraine", Putin told state television
- UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer brushed aside the warning, saying Ukraine had the right to defend itself, but he added that he did not seek conflict with Moscow
- Starmer is in Washington for talks with US President Joe Biden, as allies of Kyiv discuss giving Ukraine permission to fire their missiles at targets inside Russia
Stay with us for more.
Putin warns Nato at risk of war with Russia over long-range missilespublished at 07:00 British Summer Time
07:00 BST
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned Nato was at risk of entering into warwith Russia if Europe and the US allowed Kyiv to attack Russian territory withwestern-made long-range western missiles.
Putin told Russian state television that this would “mean nothing other than the direct participation of Nato countries - the US and European countries - in the war in Ukraine."
"It is their direct participation," he said. "And, of course, this substantially changes the very essence, the nature of the conflict.”
He added: “If that is the case, we will take corresponding decisions based on the threats that will be created to us.”
Russia revokes accreditation of six British diplomats - Russian media reportpublished at 06:52 British Summer Time
06:52 BST
Welcome to our coverage. You're joining us as Russia media report that Moscow has revoked the accreditation of six British diplomats it accuses of spying.
The FSB state security service claimed their activities threatened the country's security.
It comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin warns the West it was at risk of entering into war with Russia. Putin said Moscow would take “appropriate decisions” if Nato allowed Ukraine to strike Russian territory with Western-made long-range missiles.
Stay with us for live updates and analysis.
