Russia Ukraine war live: Biden ‘working on’ lifting long range weapons ban as Russian freight train derailed

President Joe Biden “does not rule out” the possibility that he will permit Ukraine to strike Russian territory, Antony Blinken said.

In an interview with Sky News, the US Secretary of State said the US has ensured that Ukraine has “what it needed, when it needed it, to be effective in repelling the Russian aggression” since Putin’s 2022 invasion, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

Washington will take multiple things into account in its decision to allow Ukraine to use long range weapons, including whether its forces would be equipped to use and maintain the “sophisticated” systems provided by allies.

“We don’t. We never rule out. But when we rule in, we want to make sure it’s done in such a way that it can advance what the Ukrainians are trying to achieve,” Blinken said.

Russia says a freight train has derailed in Belgorod, a region bordering Ukraine, and blamed the incident on unspecified “interference”. Officials at the local branch of Russian railways said no casualties were recorded.

“Last night, 23.17 (2017 GMT on Tuesday)… due to interference with the operation of railway transport, a locomotive and wagons of a freight train derailed,” the South-Eastern Railway said on its Telegram channel. “According to preliminary information, there are no casualties.”

The accident happened in the Novooskolsky district. Novyi Oskol, a town which is the administrative centre of the district, is about 50km (31 miles) from the border with Ukraine.

A detour has been organised for passenger trains and emergency crews were dispatched to the site, Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. He did not say what caused the train to derail.

Reports of Iranian weapons transfers to Russia are “ugly propaganda” to conceal Western military support to Israel, Iran’s foreign ministry said, after Western powers said they would hit Tehran with new sanctions over the issue.

“The publication of false and misleading reports about the transfer of Iranian weapons to some countries is simply an ugly propaganda to conceal the large illegal arms support of the United States and some Western countries for the genocide in Gaza,” foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said in a post on X, without mentioning the new sanctions.

Russia has received ballistic missiles from Iran and would likely use them in Ukraine within weeks, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said, warning that cooperation between Moscow and Tehran threatened wider European security.

“Some Western countries present themselves as defenders of human rights and support the implementation of international conventions and treaties, but send all kinds of weapons to back the war crimes of the Zionist regime (Israel),” Kanaani added in his post, primarily about the war in Gaza.

Kyiv says it could cut ties with Tehran if Russia used ballistic missiles supplied by Iran to attack Ukraine, calling delivery of the weapons “unacceptable”.

“I will not say now exactly what is meant by devastating consequences, so as not to weaken our diplomatic position. But I can say that all options, including the one you mentioned, are on the table,” foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhiy Tykhyi said, when asked if Kyiv could cut ties with Tehran.

President Volodymyr Zelensky made no direct reference to Iran in his nightly video address, but pledged to coordinate a strong world-wide response to any power helping Russia and Vladimir Putin.

“I want to say to everyone in the world who still wants somehow to help Putin,” Mr Zelensky said.

“We will do everything not just to defend our state and people, but to truly consolidate the world for strong responses to the incitement of war or any attempts to prolong it.”

The international world order is under threat in a way not seen since the Cold War, the heads of MI6 and the CIA have warned.

In the first joint op-ed penned by the leaders of the British and American intelligence services in their shared 77-year history, the MI6 chief Sir Richard Moore and CIA director William Burns warned that both countries now “face an unprecedented array of threats”.

Writing in the Financial Times, the intelligence leaders reflected on their decades of cooperation over the course of two world wars and in their fight against terrorism, warning: “The challenges of the past are being accelerated in the present, and compounded by technological change.”

Read the full report by Andy Gregory below:

Antony Blinken is set to arrive in Ukraine to meet senior government officials at what he said was a critical moment for supporting the country in its fight against Russia’s invasion.

The top US diplomat, who is traveling to Ukraine alongside British foreign secretary David Lammy, said he will use his visit to hear directly from Volodymyr Zelensky and others what Kyiv’s current goals in the war are and what Washington can do to help it achieve them.

“I think it’s a critical moment for Ukraine in the midst of what is an intense fall fighting season with Russia continuing to escalate its aggression,” Mr Blinken said in London at a news conference with Lammy.

Mr Blinken declined to say whether Washington will allow Ukraine to use long-range weapons deep inside Russia but said multiple factors went into the consideration of this decision rather than just looking at it as a weapons system.

“It’s not just the system itself that counts. You have to ask: Can the Ukrainians effectively use it, and sometimes that requires significant training, which we’ve done. Do they have the ability to maintain it?,” he said.

Donald Trump repeatedly refused to make clear whether he wants Ukraine to win the war against Russia.

Facing vice president Kamala Harris in an ABC News debate last night, the Republican candidate was asked if he wanted Ukraine to win the war. “I want the war to stop; I want to save lives,” he said, adding that he has “good” relationships with both Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin.

On being asked if he thought Ukraine’s victory against Russia in the war was in the US’s best interest, Mr Trump said: “Yes, I think it’s in the US’ best interest to get this war finished and just get it done.”

Ms Harris at one point told Mr Trump that Mr Putin would “eat you for lunch”.

The UK is banning Iran’s national carrier from operating flights to Britain, part of a new set of sanctions over Tehran’s supply of ballistic missiles to Ukraine.

Britain is joined by the US, France and Germany in new measures against Iran Air, which are being enforced alongside travel bans and the freezing of assets of Iranians accused of providing military support to Russia, officials said.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that new sanctions on Iran Air would restrict its commercial flights from Iran to Britain and continental Europe.

Speaking to reporters, Kirby echoed comments earlier in London by US secretary of state Antony Blinken, who said Russia has received ballistic missiles from Iran and will likely use them in Ukraine within weeks.

“The supply of these Iranian missiles, which have a maximum range of about 75 miles, could allow Russia to use more of its arsenal for targets beyond the frontline while employing Iranian warheads for closer-range targets,” Kirby said.

Representatives of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, which make up the BRICS alliance, will discuss initiatives on Ukraine at a security-focused meeting starting on Tuesday, the Ria news agency cited Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu as saying.

The meeting is taking place in Russia on 10 – 12 September, he said.

The International Monetary Fund reached a preliminary agreement with Ukraine that would give the war-torn country access to about $1.1bn (£840m) in financial assistance.

The agreement follows what Kyiv said were “difficult” talks and is subject to approval by the fund’s executive board, which the IMF said in a statement is expected to happen in “coming weeks”.

“Russia’s war in Ukraine continues to have a devastating impact on the country and its people,” Gavin Gray, who led the IMF’s monitoring mission to Kyiv for the fifth review of the lending programme, said in a statement. “Skillful policymaking, the adaptability of households and firms, and robust external financing has helped support macroeconomic and financial stability,” he added.

Kyiv is spending about 60 per cent of its total budget to fund its army and relies heavily on financial support from its Western partners to pay pensions and wages to public sector employees and finance social and humanitarian spending.