With Donald Trump As one of two possible occupants of the White House in January, the stakes for Ukraine’s future could not have been higher as US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer met in Washington for the second time in the past three months.

That added a new level of intrigue to Friday’s face-off between Starmer and Biden. The two allies gathered at the White House to talk about Ukraine policy, but in just a few months, Starmer will have to work with — or oppose — a new American leader.

Biden, who announced nearly two months ago that he would drop his re-election bid, will leave office on January 20.

The person who replaces him could be Trumpwhich has all but explained that his attitude to Russia’s war against Ukraine will be to cut off American aid, let Russia win, and perhaps go so far as to pull America out of the NATO alliance.

Democratic nominee and vice president Kamala Harrismeanwhile, has taken the opposite stance and reaffirmed US commitment to Ukraine if elected. Starmer won’t know who he’s dealing with until November at the earliest, and they won’t take office until January.

In Washington, at Biden’s invitation, the prime minister has found himself at a crossroads as Kiev pushes to use its British-built Storm Shadow missiles to strike targets deep inside Russia as a way to push back on the continuing war Vladimir Putin’s army is waging .

It’s a decision Starmer can’t make on his own.

Although Starmer might conceivably approve of the use of British missiles for attacks on Russian targets on the far side of the country’s border with Ukraine, he cannot give his consent to use target data that would allow such attacks because it is controlled by the US Department of Defense.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has suggested America would be receptive to changing the policy that has so far prevented Kiev from striking deep into Russian territory with Western missiles.

White House spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that no decision to reverse the policy was expected during the meeting between Biden and Starmer.

Still, during the part of their sit-down that was open to the press, the prime minister hinted that such discussions were on the agenda, telling Biden: that “the next few weeks and months could be crucial, very, very important” for Ukraine’s defense in what he called “this vital war of freedom”.

“I think historically we have shown the strength of our relationship, that we are strategically aligned. We have a common cause on these global issues, and so it is very important for us to have this opportunity to talk through them, not only in the act itself but also the broader strategy that underlies them, so thank you for the invitation,” he said.

A White House readout of their meeting stated that Biden and Starmer had “an in-depth discussion on a range of foreign policy issues of mutual interest” and “reaffirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine as it continues to defend itself against Russian aggression.”

But a decision about renting Kyiv using longer-range weapons was out of the question.

After the meeting ended, the prime minister told reporters that the meeting had not been about a specific decision and said discussions would resume when the two meet again on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York later. month, along with what he described as “a wider group of individuals.”

Still, all could be thrown into disarray should Trump top Harris in November’s election, as the one-time and perhaps future president has made clear his intention to cut aid in favor of Moscow.

Still, Starmer was unwilling to discuss any contingencies for such a result — or much else when pressed by reporters before boarding the motorcade.

“There’s only one reason we’re having these discussions, and that’s because Putin has illegally invaded Ukraine, and obviously the biggest way to solve this is through what Putin is actually doing, because he’s manipulating this,” he said. “But we are having a discussion, we stood with Ukraine. Ukraine has the right to self-defense, and we have stood united, not only with allies here in the United States, but also with our NATO allies.”