The Washington Post: This is why the Biden administration refuse to provide Ukraine with long-range missiles
The Washington Post reported that the White House doesn’t intend to change its decision not to supply long-range tactical missiles to Ukraine in the near future.
The Washington Post quoted informed sources as saying, “The US administration adheres to the decision to refuse to send long-range missiles to Ukraine, despite the increasing pressure on it by lawmakers and the requests of the Kiev”.
The Washington Post added, quoting officials in the White House and the Pentagon, that there has been no change in the US approach, nor have there been any internal discussions in this regard in recent months.
The main source of concern among US officials to the limited number of ATACMS missiles in the Pentagon’s warehouses, as only 4,000 missiles have been manufactured since the beginning of production of this model, 900 of which were sold to allies.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Friday that Biden continues to discuss providing ATACMS missiles to Kiev with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Sullivan indicated that the decision whether or not to deliver this type of missile to the Kiev regime is ultimately up to Biden.
The US media reported earlier that Washington is about to make a decision to transfer ATACMS missiles to Ukraine.
Kiev has repeatedly expressed its desire to acquire ATACMS systems with a range of more than 300 km, which exceeds the range of missiles provided by France and Britain by more than 60 km.
The Pentagon confirmed that Ukraine doesn’t currently need the ATACMS system, which would be able to reach beyond the lines of contact, including territory inside Russia and the Crimea peninsula.
Previously, France had ruled out providing long-range missiles to Ukraine, due to fears that they could be used to attack targets inside Russia’s territory, which would lead to an escalation of the conflict, but President Emmanuel Macron said he would send Scalp missiles to help Ukraine defend itself.
For its part, the Russian Foreign Ministry considered that the supply of weapons by NATO countries to Ukraine is playing with fire and incitement that fuels the crisis and undermines the chances of peace, as it may lead to the outbreak of a nuclear war.
Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, confirmed that Washington’s provision of a large new package of military aid to Ukraine shows the unwillingness of the US authorities to search for a peaceful solution to the conflict.
