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this article is reproduced from [xinhua news agency];

xinhua news agency, beijing, september 12 (xinhua) -- u.s. secretary of state antony blinken and british foreign secretary david lammy arrived in the ukrainian capital of kiev on the 11th to hold a series of meetings with senior ukrainian officials. it is expected that they will discuss the key issue of the west providing ukraine with long-range weapons to strike targets in russia. russian officials immediately issued a warning.

before leaving, blinken said he was traveling to get first-hand information from ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky and other ukrainian officials about their "war goals" and the us support they needed.

according to reuters, zelensky is expected to reiterate a request for military aid to the two "allies": allowing the ukrainian army to launch long-range missiles, including u.s. army tactical missiles and british storm shadow cruise missiles, into the heart of russia to weaken the russian army's strike capability. blinken and lamy will consider whether to agree to the above request based on the information provided by ukraine.

since the escalation of the russian-ukrainian conflict in february 2022, the united states and its european allies have continuously provided large amounts of military aid to ukraine, and the weapons provided have gradually upgraded. however, they are still "somewhat hesitant" in providing long-range weapons that can "strike targets deep into russian territory" because they are worried that it will provoke russia and cause western countries to "directly get involved" in the conflict with russia. however, as the war situation becomes unfavorable to the ukrainian army, the positions of the united states and europe are gradually showing signs of loosening.

last week, reuters reported, citing sources, that the united states was "close to agreeing" to allow ukraine to use long-range weapons, but some "technical issues" needed to be resolved before delivery, and ukraine might have to wait for several months. on the eve of blinken's visit to ukraine, us president joseph biden had hinted that there was room for compromise on the matter. when asked by reporters whether the united states would relax restrictions on the ukrainian military's use of long-range weapons against russia, biden said the federal government was "looking for a way."

regarding this new development, vyacheslav volodin, chairman of the russian state duma (lower house of parliament), said on the communication software "telegram" that if the united states and european allies such as germany, france, and britain allow ukraine to use long-range weapons to attack the russian mainland, russia will regard these countries as belligerents. "all this will lead to one thing, that is, our country will be forced to use more powerful and more destructive weapons to protect our citizens."

in response to reporters' questions, blinken was vague, saying that whether the united states would give the green light to use the above weapons in this way depends on many factors. "this is not just a problem with the (weapon) system itself. you have to ask: can the ukrainians use it effectively? ... do they have the ability to maintain it?" (shen min)