US wants more clarity from Ukraine on possible use of long-range weapons

[September 19, 2024]  By LOLITA C. BALDOR and AAMER MADHANI

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration still is not convinced that it should give Ukraine the authority to launch long-range missiles deeper into Russia, and U.S. officials say they are seeking more detailed information about how Kyiv would use the weapons and how they fit into the broader strategy for the war.

U.S. officials said they have asked Ukraine to spell out more clearly its combat objectives, as President Joe Biden prepares to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy next week.

Administration officials are concerned that loosening restrictions on the use of the weapons would have limited impact and come with great risk. Russian President Vladimir Putin last week warned that Russia would be “at war” with the United States and its NATO allies if they allow Ukraine to use the long-range weapons.

U.S. defense officials have repeatedly argued that the long-range missiles are limited in number and that Ukraine already is using its own long-range drones to hit targets farther into Russia. That capability was evidenced by a Ukrainian drone strike overnight that hit a large military depot, causing a huge blaze, in a town 500 kilometers (300 miles) from the border.

Ukrainian leaders, however, say they need permission to strike weapons depots, airfields and military bases far from the border to motivate Russia to seek peace. The U.S. allows Ukraine to use American-provided weapons in more limited, cross-border strikes to counter attacks by Russian forces.

The U.S. is coming under mounting pressure from NATO allies who believe Ukraine should be the one to decide how and where it uses the weapons and how it fights its own war. A senior U.S. official said the subject came up during meetings of NATO defense chiefs in Europe over the weekend — attended by Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff — and that most advocated in favor of the change.

The U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

Ukraine is pressing to use U.S.-supplied Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, and British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles to hit deeper into Russia. Biden discussed the issue during a meeting last week with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, left and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy look at each other during the Ukraine Contact Group meeting at Ramstein Air Base, Friday, Sept.6, 2024. (Andreas Arnold/dpa via AP)

U.S. officials familiar with discussions said they believed Starmer was seeking Biden’s approval to allow Ukraine to use the Storm Shadow missiles for expanded strikes in Russia. Biden’s approval may be needed because Storm Shadow components are made in the U.S. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to share the status of private conversations.

Starmer said talks would continue when global leaders convene for the U.N. General Assembly gathering next week. Biden's meeting with Zelenskyy is expected to happen late next week after the U.S. president returns from the U.N.

A senior U.S. official said the U.S. wants to help Ukraine shape its combat objectives for the war and the use of long-range weapons.

On Saturday, the head of NATO’s military committee said Ukraine has the solid legal and military right to strike deep inside Russia to gain combat advantage. Speaking in Prague at the close of the meeting of the alliance's military chiefs, Adm. Rob Bauer of the Netherlands said, “Every nation that is attacked has the right to defend itself. And that right doesn’t stop at the border of your own nation.”

Lt. Gen. Karel Řehka, chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces, made it clear his nation places no such weapons restrictions on Kyiv.

“We believe that the Ukrainians should decide themselves how to use it,” Řehka said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, however, has consistently pushed back on the idea that long-range strikes would be a game-changer.

“I don’t believe one capability is going to be decisive, and I stand by that comment,” Austin said, noting that Ukraine has other means to strike long-range targets.

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