Decision to provide Ukraine with ATACMS was made in August – Politico

The White House made the final decision to provide ATACMS long-range missiles to Ukraine on 30 August and sent them as part of a military aid package announced on 21 September.

Source: Politico, citing two US officials, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The debate on the provision of ATACMS broke out in the White House in July, when US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan instructed his team to consider options for additional weapons that would help Ukraine hit vulnerable targets in the Russian rear.

On 23 August, Sullivan's subordinates suggested providing Ukraine with a modification of ATACMS missiles with an APAM cluster part, since the States had already begun to send cluster munitions, and the Pentagon, which did not want a shortage of long-range weapons, did not include this modification in their defence planning.

On 28 August, Sullivan ordered that the proposal be placed on the agenda of a meeting of senior White House national security officials. The meeting was held on 30 August, and then the decision to provide APAM was approved.

Politico’s sources say the US kept the decision under wraps to retain an element of surprise, because otherwise Russia would have moved its equipment and ammunition storage points further away from the front line, out of the missiles’ range.

Joe Biden informed Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the decision to provide ATACMS during a meeting at the White House on 21 September. At the same time, the United States announced a package of military assistance to Ukraine in which the long-range missiles appeared as cluster munitions.

Politico says the White House hopes that ATACMS will help undermine any Russian military superiority on the battlefield and gain time for Kyiv to recapture additional territory. At the same time, the United States still requires Ukraine to refrain from using these missiles on the territory of the Russian Federation.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed in his evening address on Tuesday 17 October that Ukrainian forces had used American ATACMS long-range missiles.

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