US President Joe Biden’s administration is leaning towards giving Ukraine’s army longer-range ATACMS missiles that can reach Crimea, NBC sources said.
The TV channel recalls that late last year the US started to supply Ukraine with older tactical missile systems and medium-range missiles. Now Washington is leaning towards sending Kiev a longer-range version of the missile, which will allow Ukraine to strike deep into the Crimean peninsula, the report said.
Now funding for arms shipments to Ukraine remains in question because of the stance of Republicans in Congress. Pentagon officials told the TV channel that the US Armed Forces have a limited stockpile of ATACMS and that they are unlikely to send them to Ukraine without allocating funds for resupply. The interlocutors also did not rule out that the Biden administration might ask US allies to provide Ukraine with such weapons.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba at a meeting with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken asked Washington to give Kiev ATACMS missiles with a range of more than 300 kilometres.