Sir Keir Starmer has said the next weeks and months will be ‘crucial’ in Ukraine as he held White House talks with Joe Biden – declaring that the UK and the US were ‘strategically aligned’ as they faced warnings of ‘war’ from Vladimir Putin.

The Prime Minister said it was ‘important’ the two countries continued to support the eastern European nation in its fight against Russia.

The pair sat in the Blue Room at the White House on Friday as the Prime Minister spoke of how the UK and US are ‘strategically aligned’ in their attempts to resolve the war.

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Sir Keir said it was ‘important’ the two countries continued to support the eastern European nation in its fight against Russia.

Meanwhile, when asked what he thought about Russian President Putin‘s threat of war, his US counterpart Mr Biden said: ‘I don’t think much about Vladimir Putin.’

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Mr Biden and Sir Keir were pictured alongside their teams in the Blue Room of the White House as the talks began.

The Prime Minister emerged after their meeting to tell reporters it had been ‘very productive’ – though he gave no details about any new policy agreements including on whether to let Ukraine use US-provided Army Tactical Missile Systems for attacks on Russia.

He had earlier told Mr Biden at the White House: ‘Historically, we’ve shown the strength of our relationship.

‘We are strategically aligned and we have a common cause on these global issues.’

Mr Biden thanked Sir Keir for his ‘leadership; during the Ukraine conflict, adding: ‘The United States is committed to standing with you to help 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.’

The US President said the two leaders were meeting to talk about Ukraine, the need for a hostage and ceasefire deal in the Middle East, and about the Indo-Pacific region.

He told the PM: ‘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.’

Following his meeting with US President Joe Biden on Friday, Sir Keir Starmer described the talks as ‘long and productive’.

Asked if he had managed to persuade Mr Biden to allow Ukraine to fire missiles into Russian territory, the PM said: ‘Well, we’ve had a long and productive discussion on a number of problems, including Ukraine, as you’d expect, the Middle East, and the Indo Pacific, talking strategically about tactical decisions.

‘This isn’t about a particular decision but we’ll obviously pick up again in UNGA (UN General Assembly) in just a few days’ time with a wider group of individuals, but this was a really important invitation from the President to have this level of discussion about those critical issues.’

He added that the quickest way to end the war in Ukraine ‘lies through what Putin actually does’.

Questioned on whether the pair were creating the impression that Russian President Vladimir Putin was intimidating them, the PM said: ‘Well, there’s only one reason we’re having these discussions, and that is Putin has illegally invaded Ukraine, and the quickest way to resolve this obviously lies through what Putin actually does, because it’s for him to end this.’

He also denied the need to weaken Vladimir Putin within months was because of the possibility of a victory for Donald Trump in November’s presidential election.

The meeting came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his frustration at the continued restrictions on the use of Western weaponry against Russian targets.

In a lengthy statement posted on X, Mr Zelensky said after meeting with Foreign Secretary David Lammy and his US counterpart Antony Blinken earlier this week, ‘there should be no unanswered questions about why Ukraine needs sufficient long-range capabilities’.

Mr Lammy and Mr Blinken were pressed on the use of Western weaponry during their visit to Ukraine earlier this week, but said they had to report back to their bosses, the Prime Minister and US President.

Mr Putin said allowing long-range strikes ‘would mean that Nato countries, the United States, and European countries are at war with Russia … if this is so, then, bearing in mind the change in the very essence of this conflict, we will make appropriate decisions based on the threats that will be created for us’.

This comes after the US president signalled a new openness to allowing Ukraine to send long-range missiles into Russia amid a warning from Vladimir Putin that such a move would lead to ‘war.’

American officials had previously told CNN that they did not expect an immediate sign off from Biden on allowing US-provided Army Tactical Missile Systems — known as ATACMS — to be launched on targets inside Russia.

But the United Kingdom has sent its own long-range Storm Shadow missiles to Kyiv. Their use, along with use of similar weapons from France, is currently limited to within Ukraine.

A change in that policy will require U.S. sign-off, which is what Biden and Starmer will be discussing in their meeting today.

Opening the meeting, Biden also said they would discuss efforts to secure a deal to end the conflict in the Middle East, adding that the priorities were to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas.

The president also stressed the importance of bringing about a ceasefire and increasing the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Sir Keir himself said: ‘We have common cause on these global issues, and therefore it’s very important for us to have this opportunity to talk them through, not just as a matter of tactics, but also the wider strategy that underpins them’.

He told reporters on Friday: ‘It’s obvious that in the coming weeks and months there are really important potential developments.’

Questioned on what he and US President Joe Biden had decided in relation to Ukraine’s potential use of long-range missiles, Sir Keir Starmer said: ‘We had a wide-ranging discussion about strategy in Ukraine, of course, in the Middle East and other parts of the world.

‘This wasn’t a meeting about a particular capability. That wasn’t why we got our heads down today.

‘It was to allow ourselves the space, which we took, the time, which we took, to have a strategic discussion so that tactical decisions could be seen within the wider strategy.

‘It was a really good invitation from the President, we’ve had a very productive (meeting) and we’ve come to a strong position. I’m very pleased that we’ve had these discussions.’

Earlier today prime minister Boris Johnson met Mr Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv and renewed calls for Britain to allow the country to use Storm Shadow missiles against targets in Russia.

Mr Johnson said afterwards: ‘It is vital that Ukraine should be able to defend itself properly by stopping the appalling Russian attacks with glide bombs and now Iranian missiles.

‘It is obvious that they should be able to use Storm Shadow, Scalp and ATACMS as fast as possible against targets in Russia itself. Every day that goes by means more pointless and tragic loss of Ukrainian lives.’