The US Congress sees an "impulse" to provide Ukraine with fighter jets and ATACMS

Michael McCall, influential US Congressman and Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, announced a shift towards providing Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets and ATACMS long-range missile systems during a visit to Kyiv on Tuesday.

European Pravda reports McCall's words, quoted as saying by the agency Reuters.

According to the Congressman, the Biden administration and the National Security Council were still split over "how fast and what weapons" to send to Ukraine.

"But I'm seeing increasing momentum towards getting the artillery and the planes in," he told reporters in central Kyiv. "And in any event, we can start training the pilots right now so they're ready," he said.

McCall on Tuesday met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who gave him a list of weapons – in particular, the F-16 and ATACMS – designed to "hit targets all the way to the territory of Crimea" to counter Iranian drones used by Russia.

The Congressman arrived in Kyiv just a day after US President Joe Biden promised to allocate  500 million dollars for new military assistance during an unexpected visit to the Ukrainian capital.

As is well known, following the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, the United States has provided Ukraine with military assistance totalling almost 28 billion dollars, but so far has refrained from sending long-range aircraft and missiles.

According to media reports, General Christopher Cavoli, the Commander-in-Chief of the NATO Joint Armed Forces in Europe, supports providing Ukraine with the most modern Western weapons including F-16 fighter jets and long-range missiles to bring its victory in the war with Russia closer.

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