A bipartisan group within the US House of Representatives – seven Democrats and six Republicans – wrote to the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, on Monday, May 20, asking for him to authorize Ukraine to strike the territory of Russia with US long-range weapons such as ATACMS. The request comes as President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly appealed to loosen the White House restrictions placed on the use of US weapons, with Ukraine under pressure from further Russian gains on the front line.
Several US and international news outlets questioned the logic of supplying long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine, with the condition that they would not be used to strike targets in Russia. In addition to the request to remove the restriction, Kyiv reportedly also asked the US to provide detailed intelligence on troops, military units, and factories deep in Russia so they could be targeted by Ukrainian-made weapons.
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The US initially opposed the transfer of long-range missiles, for fear of using up stocks vital to its own combat readiness and of Ukraine potentially using them on targets inside Russia. Reuters suggested that the Russian use of North Korean long-range ballistic missiles led to a change in Washington’s stance.
The Voice of America (VOA) says that the representatives’ initiative was prompted by a recent meeting that Oleksandra Ustinova, a Ukrainian parliamentarian, had with the lawmakers in which she said:
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“Realizing that we do not have the right to use, for instance, HIMARS on the territory of Russia, the Russians display all their equipment along the border and use it to destroy the Kharkiv region while we simply cannot get to them, because there’s a ban on the usage of American weapons on the territory of Russia.”
The letter seeks authorization for the “use certain weapons provided by the US to conduct operations on strategic targets inside Russian and Russian-controlled territory.” It accuses the Biden administration of “handcuffing Ukraine’s ability to push back on Russian forces near Kharkiv,” as they have “attacked Ukrainian communities from Russian territory with impunity,” which prevents Ukrainians from defending themselves due to the current policy.
The letter goes on to demand an increase in the numbers of F-16 pilots being trained by the US which is only “on track to graduate [a total] of 12 pilots from F-16 training by the end of 2024.”
In terms of air defense assets, the representatives say “that aid to Ukraine is not arriving in sufficient quantities and in a timely manner.” They call on the Pentagon to “work with us to expedite resources as our friends in Ukraine continue to defend their territory against Russia’s brutal assault and aggression.”
According to VOA, Austin reiterated the US policy against using US weapons to target the Russian mainland at Monday’s 22nd Ukraine Defense Contact Group “Ramstein” meeting.
Earlier, the former acting Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland in an interview with ABC News said: “If the attacks are coming directly from over the line in Russia, those bases ought to be fair game. I think it’s time to give the Ukrainians more help hitting these bases inside Russia.”
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