The Biden administration is under growing pressure to give Ukraine the U.S. Army’s ATACMS missiles. Talks about providing aid to Ukraine are heavily focused on the inclusion of long range weapons.
Biden’s Administration is pressured to send long range weapons to Ukraine | 1Lurer
Biden is reluctant to equip Ukraine with long range weapons like the U.S Army’s ‘Army Tactical Missile Systems’ (ATACMS).
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba stressed the need to increase Ukraine’s long-range capabilities by providing long range weapons like the ATACMS, during a call with U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. However the Washington refused to equip Ukraine with such advance long range weapons such as ATACMS.
Analysts are implying that ATACMS would soon appear in U.S. Defense Department military aid packages, as the U.K. announced in May it was sending its long range weapons, Storm Shadow, or SCALP missiles. It was said that the ATACMS have a slightly longer range than other long range missiles like Storm shadow, although its validity of the said capability of such long range weapons is debatable.
Ukraine’s ambassador in Washington, D.C., Oksana Markarova, indicated in mid-June that the U.S. are now discussing the matter regarding the long range weapons request of Ukraine, but no decision has yet been made.
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Lawmakers are boosting the pressure on Biden to give the green light to send the requested long range weapons to Ukraine.
Nine Republican and Democratic lawmakers wrote to the president, conveying that the war in Ukraine has become a conflict of grinding slow destruction and America can and must help break this stalemate by swiftly providing Ukraine with the said long range weapons that will improve Ukraine’s chances of victory, Politico reports.
The letter also urges the president to approve other advanced weaponry, like the U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets and other long range weapons like another Patriot missile defense system. It also urges Biden to expedite the transfer of U.S. M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine.
Some of those opposed to sending ATACMS and other long range weapons to Ukraine are starting to be swayed as there is a new push of sending long range weapons to Ukraine.
Aside from worries about the safety issues and concerns that providing Ukraine with long range weapons would fracture support for Ukraine aid among allies and in Congress, it should also be noted that the U.S only has a relatively few ATACMS, and the country have to make sure to maintain its own munitions inventories.
President Volodymyr Zelensky repeatedly requested the necessary modern weapons, including long-range weapons to the U.S.
READ MORE| Joe Biden Under Pressure to Send ATACMS to Ukraine
