Biden Says 'Working Out' Letting Ukraine Hit Russia With US Long-Range Missiles
President Joe Biden's latest words to reporters related to the Ukraine war strongly suggest the US could be close to greenlighting Ukraine's ability to use US-supplied long-range missiles to strike deep inside Russian territory.
The pattern of recent history is also that if Zelensky lobbies hard enough in western capitals, there's eventual capitulation, even should there be great risk of NATO escalation with Russia. This is how the F-16 program happened, and it was rushed through with negative results thus far.
Amid the latest pleas from Zelensky for the West to take off all restrictions on use of offensive weaponry, Biden when asked by reporters Tuesday if the US will allow Ukraine forces to use longer-range missiles to target sites inside Russia, said: "We’re working that out right now."
Last week while visiting Germany, Zelensky urged, "We need to have this long-range capability, not only on the divided territory of Ukraine but also on the Russian territory, so that Russia is motivated to seek peace."
"We need to make Russian cities and even Russian soldiers think about what they need: peace or Putin," he said.
Biden's latest remark about working out whether to lift all range restrictions come the same week the US has accused Iran of supplying Moscow with short-range ballistic missiles. The White House quickly hit Iran with new sanctions, and there's the potential that another strong 'answer' of the US will be to give Kiev what it wants in terms of lifting arms restrictions.
Secretary of State Blinken while in London this week, just ahead of another trip to Kiev, had this to say:
“It’s not just the system itself that counts,” said Blinken. “You have to ask: Can the Ukrainians effectively use it, and sometimes that requires significant training, which we’ve done. Do they have the ability to maintain it?”
So there continues to be mixed signals. The Pentagon has lately said that Ukraine has long-range capabilities with its drone program. Still, pieces and key aspects of a potential new policy are in motion:
Britain and France build and supply Storm Shadow and Scalp-EG cruise missiles to Ukraine, but it is has become apparent that US technology is also involved and Washington has held back from approving that technology’s use for strikes inside Russian territory. Keir Starmer, the UK prime minister, is due to meet with Biden in Washington on Friday.
Pressure is building in Congress too...
Given the escalating Russian attacks on civilian targets across Ukraine, Chair @SenatorCardin is urging the easing of restrictions on Ukrainian’s use of U.S.-provided weapons, adding that America "must act swiftly to grant these permissions."
— Senate Foreign Relations Committee (@SFRCdems) September 11, 2024
Statement ⤵️https://t.co/N73L0fBq41
Just on Tuesday several oblasts in Russia were rocked by wave after wave of Ukrainian drones, described as one of the single biggest drone attacks of the war.
One Moscow woman died as a result of a drone slamming into her apartment building. If these attacks are done by missiles and not just UAVs, the casualties and devastation will be much worse. Such would certainly cross Putin's red lines and he would likely escalate the war with major attacks on the Ukrainian capital and perhaps even government buildings like the parliament.