Long-range weapons, the delivery of which was promised to Ukraine by Western countries, will not be used to target Russian territory, but only on occupied territories, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Sunday, quoting AFP.

“We always tell our partners that we undertake not to use weapons provided by foreign partners against the territory of Russia, but only against their units in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine,” Reznikov said at a press conference in Kyiv.

Fears of the West

The US, in particular, promised to supply Kyiv with missiles that could double the range of Ukrainian missiles and deliver deep strikes on Russian supply lines.

A new missile that would double Ukraine’s strike range in a war with Russia is included in a new military aid package worth more than $2.175 billion that the United States is to send to Ukraine, the Americans said on February 3. The military package opens the door for additional deliveries of small-diameter land-based bombs (GLSDB), which have a range of more than 150 kilometers.

The GLSDB will exponentially increase Ukraine’s range after the US-provided High Mobility Artillery Missile Systems (HIMARS) arrive in Ukraine in late June 2022.

The missiles will actually double the range of Ukrainian weapons, but the kit will not include the ATACMS missile, the range of which exceeds 320 kilometers. The US has consistently rejected Ukrainian requests for the system due to fears that it could be used to strike targets on Russian territory.

In an interview with Bild am Sonntag, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed that Western weapons would not be used to attack Russian territory. “There is a consensus on this,” Scholz said.

On September 30, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed agreements on the annexation of the partially occupied territories of Ukraine – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. “We will defend our territory by all means,” he said at the time.

A large-scale Russian offensive is expected in February

Ukraine’s defense minister has criticized the “reluctance” of Western countries to supply his country with fighter jets due to fears of an escalating conflict with Russia, uncertainty that he said “costs more lives”.

Referring to the “delay or reluctance” to deliver these weapons to Ukraine, Oleksiy Reznikov assured that Kyiv would still win, but “it will cost us even more lives.”

Western countries are still afraid that Kyiv will not use them for attacks on Russian territory, which will lead to a dangerous escalation of the conflict.

According to Reznikov, the Russians “moved their headquarters, their command posts, their warehouses with ammunition and fuel 100 km from the front line so that we could not touch them.”

“This complicates the logistical situation for them, but at the same time allows them to prepare to move forward,” the Ukrainian minister continued, repeating that he expects a large-scale Russian offensive in February.

“All the Western weapons won’t be able to get there” but “we have the resources and the reserves” to counter it, he said.

In recent weeks, Russian troops have made little progress in eastern Ukraine, where the main fighting is taking place, increasing pressure especially on the city of Bakhmut, the epicenter of the violence.

Responding to questions about a possible exit from Bakhmut on Sunday, Oleksiy Reznikov assured that the city still remains a “fortress, a symbol,” but the final decision rests with the Ukrainian General Staff.

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