Joe Biden said on Monday that the United States would not send long-range rocket systems to Ukraine that could be used to attack Russian territory, hitting Kyiv, which has repeatedly called for such weapons.
“We will not send rocket systems to Ukraine that could attack Russia,” the U.S. president said in response to a question about whether Washington would consider sending long-range systems into the country.
US media reported last week that the administration was preparing to send long-range rocket systems to Ukraine, including the multi-rocket launch system, a US weapon capable of firing long-range rockets. .
A senior US official said on Monday that “there is nothing on the table with long-range attack capabilities”, but that he was still “considering” providing an MLRS system, which could also be used. for short-range ammunition.
U.S. officials have previously said Washington does not want US military aid to be used to help Ukraine attack Russia.
Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Biden’s comments probably meant that the United States was trying to decide what kind of MLRS to provide in Kyiv.
“MLRS has missiles of very different types and ranges. Let’s see what decision will be made in the US in the near future,” Arestovych said.
On Friday, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby acknowledged that Ukraine had requested an MLRS system, but said that no decision had yet been made to provide one.
“We are certainly aware of the demands of Ukraine, both privately and publicly, on what is known as a multi-rocket launch system. And I will not go ahead with decisions that have not yet been made,” he said. to say.
Senior Ukrainian officials, including Zelensky, have stepped up pressure on the U.S. and its allies to provide long-range weapons, including the MLRS, and a separate long-range rocket system known as himars.
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Ukrainian forces view the long-range fire as critical in the fight for the Donbas, which is turning into a war of attrition, in which both sides are bombarded with heavy artillery and suffer heavy losses.
Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian prime minister who is now deputy chairman of the country’s security council, welcomed Biden’s comments on Monday, calling them “rational,” according to Reuters.
On Friday, following US media reports that Washington was considering sending long-range rocket systems, a Russian state television presenter warned that sending an “MLRS” system to Ukraine would cross a red line “.
The United States has already promised dozens of 155-mm US-made shells, which have a longer range and are more accurate than standard Russian guns. Most have arrived in Ukraine and are beginning to be used on the battlefield, U.S. defense officials have said.
Weapons are part of a multi-billion dollar global package of lethal assistance to Ukraine, including artillery and anti-tank systems that played a critical role in defending Russian efforts to take Kyiv and other parts of the world. country.
This month, the U.S. Senate approved another $ 40 billion in military, economic, and humanitarian assistance.
On Monday, Biden used his annual Memorial Day speech at Arlington Cemetery in Virginia to accuse Russia of trying to “exclude freedom, democracy, culture and identity from neighboring Ukraine.”
He added: “Ukraine is a people at the forefront of the struggle to save its nation. Its struggle is part of a greater struggle that unites all people, it is a struggle of which so many patriots are the rest. of which he is here in these sacred lands: a battle between democracy and autocracy, freedom and repression. “
Additional report by Roman Olearchyk in Kyiv