US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he is considering allowing the transportation of longer-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine, which Kyiv is requesting to strengthen its counteroffensive against Russia, EFE and Agerpres reported.
Asked if he was considering sending that type of weapon, Biden said yes.
“But (the Ukrainians) already have the ATACMS equivalent (tactical missiles). Most of all, we need artillery shells, and there are not enough of them. We’re working on it,” Biden explained before boarding Air Force One to fly from Lithuania, where he attended a NATO summit on July 11 and 12, to Finland, where the US president is scheduled to hold a summit with leaders on Thursday. Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Denmark).
At the NATO summit in Vilnius, France announced that it would supply Ukraine with long-range SCALP missiles. SCALP is the French name for the Storm Shadow missile, jointly developed by France and Great Britain, which has a range of more than 250 kilometers.
The British government announced the delivery of these missiles to Ukraine at the beginning of May, since then the Ukrainian army has been using them to strike Russian targets behind the front line.
ATACMS has a range of about 300 kilometers, several tens of kilometers more than SCALP and Storm Shadows.
The US has been sending HIMARS systems to Ukraine since the summer of last year, but the range of the missiles delivered to them is about 80 kilometers. ATACMS missiles can be launched by both HIMARS and M270 systems received by Ukraine.
And the future head of the US military is in favor of sending ATACMS missiles to Ukraine
Kyiv has long sought tactical ballistic missile systems from the US military, arguing that they would help them strike Russian forces far behind the front lines.
Biden’s comments on Thursday came after the general he appointed to replace Mark Milley as chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff expressed support for sending such weapons to Ukraine.
“This missile is a great system, it adds range. Essentially, it will provide the ability to attack deeper targets,” said Gen. Randy George, Joe Biden’s nominee for top Army general.
When asked if it would help Ukraine, he answered: “Yes.”
ATACMS missiles were first used during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been asking for them since the first days of the war, but the Biden administration is still unwilling to send them.
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Source: Hot News
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