Ukraine updates: Starmer, Biden meet at White House

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday announced new US sanctions against Russian international state broadcaster RT, and urged countries to treat it as they do other arms of Russian intelligence operations. 

He said that RT had moved beyond being a media entity and vehicle for disinformation, and was "functioning like a de facto arm of Russia's intelligence apparatus." He cited alleged activities like covert fundraising to buy military equipment for soldiers fighting in Ukraine.

"Today, we're announcing that these Kremlin-backed media outlets are not only playing this covert influence role to undermine democracy in the United States, but also to meddle in the sovereign affairs of countries around the world," Blinken said. 

Friday's new measures targeted RT's parent company, TV Novosti. The US last week accused RT of meddling in the 2024 election and issued sanctions against RT's Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan, prompting Russia to pledge reciprocal steps. 

The UK issued similar comments late on Friday, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer was in Washington with President Joe Biden. 

Britain's foreign ministry said that the news channel was previously a "mouthpiece for Russian disinformation," but that it had "mutated into an altogether more harmful organization." 

Meanwhile, Keir Starmer, on his second trip to the US since taking office in July, said the next phase of the war could be "crucial."

"I think the next few weeks and months could be crucial, very important and that we support Ukraine in this vital war of freedom," the United Kingdom leader said.

He could have been alluding to multiple developments. 

Russia is trying to gain ground in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, particularly around the town of Pokrovsk. 

It is also launching a counteroffensive in its border region of Kursk, after Ukraine's surprise incursion into its territory last month. 

Winter is fast approaching, at which point military activity will be much more difficult for both sides. 

And, in less than two months, US voters will be called to pick the next occupant of the White House. 

Starmer also praised traditionally close US-UK ties.

"Historically, we've shown the strength of our relationship. We are strategically aligned, and we have a common cause on these global issues," he said. 

In addition to discussing the ongoing war in Ukraine, the pair were also expected to touch on the need for a hostage and ceasefire deal in the Middle East, and discuss the Indo-Pacific region.

US President Joe Biden played down Russian President Vladimir Putin's latest warning against escalation in Ukraine during his meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the White House on Friday. 

"I don't think much about Vladimir Putin," Biden said, when asked for his response on Putin saying that allowing Ukraine to use American and British long-range missiles to strike into Russia would mean that NATO was "at war" with Russia. 

However, the White House also made it clear, despite rumors in the build-up to Starmer's visit, that no change in US position was likely during Friday's talks. Most NATO members have already said that Ukraine can use its weapons on targets close to its borders, but fewer have said it can strike deeper into Russia. 

Biden said the US was "committed" to helping Ukraine "as it defends against Russia's onslaught of aggression." 

"It's clear that Putin will not prevail in this war. The people of Ukraine will prevail."

He also thanked Starmer and praised US-UK ties and cooperation on Ukraine and other topics. 

"I've often said there's no issue of global consequence where the United States and UK can't work together and haven't worked yet."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine's incursion into the Russian border region of Kursk had helped slow down Moscow's advance in eastern Ukraine.

Zelenskyy also asserted that Russia's counteroffensive in the Kursk region also made no major advances.

"It gave the results that, frankly speaking, we counted on. In the Kharkiv region, the enemy was stopped. Their advance in the Donetsk region was slowed down, although it is very difficult there," Zelenskyy said at a press conference in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

"[Russia] wanted to break through there quickly. [...] We have not seen any serious successes so far," he said, referring to the Kursk region.

Zelenskyy said that Russia had around 40,000 troops on the Kursk front.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that Russian forces have made advances both in the Kursk region and on the eastern front in Ukraine. On Friday, Russia's Defense Ministry its forces had taken back 10 out of 100 Kursk villages claimed by Ukraine.

The battlefield reports could not be independently verified.

The European Commission has presented to EU ambassadors three new options for extending the sanctions renewal period covering Russia's central bank assets that are crucial to securing a $50 billion (€45 billion) G7 loan for Ukraine, Reuters quoted EU diplomats as saying.

In order to secure the loan, the G7 wants to be sure that the EU sanctions regime on the assets will not be lifted. EU sanctions against Russia have to be renewed unanimously every six months, but renewals have sometimes been used as a bargaining chip by member states, and Hungary's Viktor Orban has held up funding and legislation to help Ukraine in the past.

According to the diplomats, the renewal options include a five-year freeze on the assets with a review every 12 months and a qualified majority of EU countries needed to unfreeze the assets.

The second option is a renewal of the asset freeze every 36 months with a unanimous vote, they said. The third option would be to extend the renewal period for all sanctions related to Russia to 36 months. 

EU countries and the Commission have been discussing options for renewing the sanctions since July, after the Commission first circulated an informal proposal.

NATO said it strongly condemned a Russian missile attack on a civilian grain ship transporting wheat from Ukraine to Egypt via the Black Sea on Thursday.

"There is no justification for such attacks. Yesterday's strike shows once again the reckless nature of Russia's war," NATO spokeswoman Farah Dakhlallah said.

Romania also strongly condemned the Russian shelling of a merchant ship. Romanian Foreign Ministry described the attack as an "unprecedented escalation" by Russia in its war against Ukraine and called it a "serious violation of international humanitarian law."

Russia endangered "the security of global food supplies with the systematic bombardment of Ukrainian infrastructure and ships transporting grain," the ministry added. No one was injured in the incident.

Ukraine accused Russia on Thursday of using strategic bombers to strike a civilian grain ship in a missile attack in Black Sea waters near NATO member Romania.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that apossible authorization by NATO partners for Ukraine to use long-range weapons against targets in Russia is covered by international law. 

“International law permits this,” Pistorius said. However, it is always the decision of the partners to allow this, added the minister with regard to indications that the USA and Great Britain could be on the verge of allowing such a deployment. 

According to Pistorius, the allies who supply these weapons are free to decide and it is not for him to judge. 

Commenting on the reaction of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who sees such a deployment as a further escalation, Pistorius said: "Putin's threats are Putin's threats, that's all you have to say."

Putin said on Thursday that the West would be directly fighting with Russia if it allowed Ukraine to strike Russian territory with Western-made long-range missiles, a move he said would alter the nature and scope of the conflict.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the West of being too "afraid" to raise the possibility of shooting down Russian missiles and drones targeting Ukraine, despite helping Israel do so.

"If allies are jointly shooting down missiles and drones in the sites of the Middle East, why is there still no similar decision to jointly shoot down Russian missiles and (Iranian drones) Shaheds in the skies of Ukraine?" Zelenskyy said at a conference in Kyiv, adding: "They are afraid to even say 'we are working on it'."

Zelenskyy also said he would meet US leader Joe Biden "this month" to present his "victory plan" for ending the two-and-a-half-year war with Russia.

He gave no specific details on how to end the fighting, saying only that his proposal will include "a system of interconnected solutions that will give Ukraine enough power — enough to put this war on a course to peace."

The first group of Ukrainian pilots began their F-16 fighter jet training at Romania's regional hub this week, the Romanian Defense Ministry said. 

Romania inaugurated an F-16 training center at its Fetesti air base in November 2023, promising to train Ukrainians there as well. 

The first four Ukrainian pilots arrived earlier this week and started their theoretical training, Romanian Defense Ministry spokesman Constantin Spinu said. "Practical training could begin "towards the end of the year," he added.

Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov welcomed the program on social media, saying it would ensure "more F-16s in Ukrainian skies."

In early August, Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine had begun flying F-16s for domestic operations, confirming the long-awaited arrival of the US-made fighters nearly two and a half years after Russia's full-scale invasion. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that 49 Ukrainian prisoners of war have been returned to their country from Russia. He posted photos on social media of the men and women wrapped in Ukrainian flags.

"Forty-nine Ukrainians are now home," Zelenskyy wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "These include warriors from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, the National Police, the State Border Guard Service, and our civilians."

According to the Ukrainian president, among the released POWs were fighters from the 2022 Azovstal battle in Mariupol.

The European Union strongly condemns the recent transfer of Iranian-made ballistic missiles to Russia, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.

"The European Union has repeatedly strongly cautioned Iran against transfers of ballistic missiles to Russia," Borrell said in a statement, adding the EU would "respond swiftly and in coordination with international partners."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said Russia received ballistic missiles from Iran and would likely use them in Moscow's war against Ukraine within weeks, a charge Iran has denied.

Borrell vowed "new and significant restrictive measures against Iran, including the designation of individuals and entities involved with Iran's ballistic missile and drone programmes." 

The EU is also considering sanctions targeting Iran's aviation sector, the bloc's chief diplomat added.

Germany and Lithuania have finalized an agreement to station a brigade in the Baltic country, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and his Lithuanian counterpart Laurynas Kasciunas announced. 

The two ministers signed the agreement, which expands on an earlier NATO agreement and specifies the legal status of German soldiers and civilian employees in Lithuania. It covers residency and tax status, schooling, public health care, and other aspects. 

The agreement underscores Germany's commitment to permanently station a combat-ready and independently deployable unit in its NATO ally in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which has fundamentally altered the security situation in Europe. 

The German brigade is expected to be operational by 2027, with a permanent presence of up to 5,000 troops. They will be stationed in Rudninkai and Rukla. An advance party of about 20 soldiers arrived in Lithuania in April, and about 120 more are expected to arrive in early October, according to the German Army.

Ukraine's air force said it shot down 24 of 26 Russian drones over five Ukrainian regions overnight, according to a statement posted on social media.

Falling debris in the southern Odesa region injured one person and damaged 20 houses and four garages, according to regional governor Oleh Kiper.

Debris from a drone in the southern Mykolaiv region caused a fire at a food company, which was extinguished, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said.

The governor of the western Ivano-Frankivsk region, Svitlana Onyshchuk, said authorities were dealing with the aftermath of the attack, but gave no details other than to say that no one had been injured.

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has accused six British diplomats of espionage. It said the Russian Foreign Ministry had canceled the accreditation of six employees of the political department of the British embassy in Moscow, and they will be expelled.

The move was in response to "numerous unfriendly steps" by London and after "signs of espionage and sabotage" were found in the diplomats' actions, the FSB said in a statement.

Russian state television said in a report that the six diplomats had met with independent media and rights groups that have been declared "foreign agents." Russian authorities have actively used the label against organizations and individuals critical of the Kremlin.

The British government rejected Russian spying claims, calling the accusations "completely baseless".

The news comes as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets US President Joe Biden in Washington where he is expected to discuss Ukraine's request to lift restrictions on the use of Western weapons against Russian targets. 

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is in Washington for talks about whether to let Kyiv use long-range missiles against Russia, in what could be their last meeting ahead of a US election that could upend policy on Ukraine.

Starmer is expected to meet US President Biden at the White House on Friday amid pleas from Ukraine to lift restrictions on the use of Western weaponry against Russian targets.

Kyiv wants Washington and London to lift a restriction preventing the use of weaponry made in the US and UK, like Storm Shadow missiles, for long-range strikes inside Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that giving Ukraine the green light would mean NATO was "at war" with Moscow.

British media has reported that Biden, wary of provoking any nuclear conflict, is prepared to let Ukraine deploy British and French missiles using US technology but not US-made missiles themselves.

Kyiv complains that not being allowed to hit the Russian air bases from which glide bomb attacks against Ukraine are launched is like making it fight this war with an arm tied behind its back.

The talks come with Biden is on his way out of office and November's US election on a knife-edge between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump.