Joe Biden must be ready to send “backup” if he allows Ukraine to use Storm Shadow missiles inside Russia because Vladimir Putin will retaliate, America’s first and only Ukrainian-American congresswoman has said.
The US president is expected to allow Ukraine to use the British-made long-range missiles inside Russia for the first time in the coming days, despite concerns from the Pentagon the move will escalate the war.
The missiles are used alongside American targeting systems, which require US permission to be used outside of Ukrainian territory.
Victoria Spartz, a Ukrainian-American congresswoman from Indiana, told The Telegraph that the move could provoke a response from Russia and that the US should consider deploying “backup”.
“I think Russia needs to understand that there could be serious consequences,” she said.
“If we continue, this war will escalate further and further. And they need to understand that it will be escalating in their territory.
She added: “They’re going to come in to do a couple of shots over there, and there’s going to get all of them hyped up, and then no one is going to backup and it’s going to get even worse.”
Any backup from the US is likely to consist of further weapons, not troops.
On Thursday, Putin said that Ukraine’s use of Western long-range missiles in Russia would amount to a direct conflict between Moscow and Nato.
“This would in a significant way change the very nature of the conflict,” he said. “It would mean that Nato countries are at war with Russia.”