Ukrainian officials try to get Biden's permission to strike Russia with US weapons – Politico

Ukrainian parliamentarians in the United States are making new attempts to force the administration of US President Joe Biden to lift the ban on the use of US-made weapons to strike Russian territory.

Source: Politico

Details: It is noted that Ukraine's inability to strike Russian territory prevented it from attacking Russian positions during the preparation for the offensive towards Kharkiv.

A group of Ukrainian MPs are reportedly in Washington this week to seek congressional support for the issue, as Kyiv seeks to strike Russian military depots located in Russia itself.

For weeks, Ukraine has watched the Russians amass near the border, while its forces were unable to use US-supplied weapons to launch a preemptive strike because of Washington's policy.

The Biden administration has made it a condition for Ukraine to receive long-range weapons that they cannot be used to strike inside Russia.

In particular, Davyd Arakhamiia, the leader of the Servant of the People party faction, who is currently in Washington, said that "the main problem right now is the White House policy to limit our capability" to strike military targets in Russia.

Russia is well aware of this limitation and can concentrate at least 30,000 troops and equipment on the border without fear of being hit by the long-range US tactical missile systems that Ukraine uses to devastate Russian troops on Ukrainian territory.

Oleksandra Ustinova, Head of the Special Parliamentary Commission on Arms and Ammunition, said that Ukraine saw Russian troops deployed one or two kilometres from the border and "could do nothing about it".

The parliamentarians are part of a larger group of Ukrainian lawmakers who are meeting with about a dozen congressional offices this week to try to engage them in their efforts to get the White House to change course.

Two US officials asked to comment on the situation confirmed that the Biden administration's policy has not changed. "The assistance is for the defence and not for offensive operations in Russian territory," one of them said.

Background:

• The Biden administration's restrictions on the use of US-made weapons in Russia have been in place since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
• In May, the UK government lifted a similar restriction on the use of UK weapons in Russia, as announced by UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron during a visit to Kyiv.
• Ukraine has been conducting strikes on Russian territory for several months, using its own small drones to attack oil facilities. But officials in Kyiv insist that they need more powerful American missiles to penetrate Russian air defences along the border.

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