Zelensky welcomes reported lifting of US restrictions on long-range weapons
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has issued a thinly veiled threat to use US-supplied long-range missiles for strikes deep inside Russia.
The statement came after multiple Western news organizations reported that outgoing President Joe Biden’s White House had reversed its long-standing policy of not allowing Kiev to use ATACMS missiles to hit targets on Russia’s internationally recognized territory.
“The plan to strengthen Ukraine is the Victory Plan, which I presented to our partners. One of its key points is long-range capabilities for our army. Today, there’s a lot of talk in the media about us receiving permission for respective actions,” Zelensky said at the end of his video address released on Sunday evening.
“But strikes are not carried out with words. Such things are not announced. Missiles will speak for themselves. They certainly will,” he added, without elaborating.
Ukraine has already been using ATACMS and French-British SCALP-EG/Storm Shadow missiles to hit targets in Crimea and other four former Ukrainian regions that joined Russia after 2014.
The Biden administration had previously declined requests for an expansion of the strikes, citing concerns over a possible escalation. The White House and the Pentagon have withheld comment on the latest reports that the restrictions have been lifted.
Multiple Western media outlets have said Kiev is expected to use the new capabilities in and around Russia’s Kursk Region, which was invaded by Ukraine in early August. Heavy fighting has been reported in the area as Russian troops engage in an offensive to push the Ukrainian forces back across the border.
Russia President Vladimir Putin warned in September that the expansion of strikes deep inside Russia using Western weapons would “significantly change the nature of the conflict.” He argued that such strikes would be impossible without the participation of foreign personnel. It would mean that “NATO countries are directly involved in the military conflict” with Russia, he said.
