Ukraine and Zelensky’s pressure: “He wants to use American weapons on Russian territory”

The government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is pressing for permission to use weapons imported from the United States to launch direct attacks on targets on Russian territory. Politico newspaper reported this, citing anonymous American officials. Kiev was renewing pressure in this sense in the context of the advance of the Russian armed forces in the Kharkiv region. A group of Ukrainian lawmakers visiting Washington this week asked members of the US Federal Congress to support their request, which President Joe Biden’s administration is currently opposing. According to Politico, Ukrainian forces “have noticed for weeks the accumulation of Russian forces” along the border between the two countries without being able to strike them, before the start of the final Russian attack towards Kharkiv. Politico states that the United States provided Ukraine with long-range weapons on the condition that the latter not be used to launch attacks against Russian territory, but it allowed their use against targets in the Crimean Peninsula.

David Arakama, head of the ruling Servant of the People party, said in Washington yesterday that “the main problem now is the White House policy of limiting our ability” to strike military targets inside Russia. According to the post, the Ukrainians are trying to enlist the support of the US Congress to put pressure on the White House. But President Joe Biden’s administration does not intend to change its position yet. An unnamed US official said: “We provide assistance for defense, not for offensive operations on the territory of the Russian Federation.”