US wants more clarity from Ukraine on possible use of long-range weapons

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration remains unconvinced that it should give Ukraine permission to launch long-range missiles deeper into Russia, and U.S. officials say they are seeking more detailed information about how kyiv would use such weapons and how they fit into the broader war strategy.

U.S. officials said they have asked Ukraine to more clearly spell out its combat goals as President Joe Biden prepares to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy next week.

Trump administration officials worry that easing restrictions on the use of these weapons will have limited impact and come with significant risks. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned last week that Russia would be “at war” with the United States and its NATO allies if they allowed Ukraine to use these long-range weapons.

U.S. defense officials have repeatedly said that long-range missiles are in short supply and that Ukraine already uses its own long-range drones to strike targets farther into Russia. That capability was demonstrated by a Ukrainian drone strike overnight that hit a large military depot, setting off a massive fire, in a town 300 miles from the border.

Ukrainian leaders, however, say they need permission to strike weapons depots, airfields and military bases far from the border to motivate Russia to seek peace. The United States allows Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied weapons in more limited cross-border strikes to counter attacks by Russian forces.

The United States is under increasing pressure from NATO allies who say Ukraine should be the one to decide how and where it uses its weapons and how it wages its own war. A senior U.S. official said the issue was discussed at NATO defense chiefs meetings in Europe over the weekend — which included Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff — and that most supported the change.

The U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

Ukraine is pushing to use U.S.-supplied Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, and British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles to strike deeper into Russia. Biden raised the issue in a meeting last week with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

U.S. officials familiar with the discussions said they believed Starmer was seeking Biden’s approval to allow Ukraine to use Storm Shadow missiles for expanded strikes on Russia. Biden’s approval may be necessary because Storm Shadow components are made in the United States. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to share the status of the private conversations.

Starmer said talks would continue when world leaders gather for the UN General Assembly next week. Biden’s meeting with Zelenskyy is expected to take place late next week, after the US president returns from the UN

A senior U.S. official said the United States wants to help Ukraine define its combat objectives for the war and the use of long-range weapons.

On Saturday, the head of NATO’s military committee said Ukraine had the legal and military right to strike deep into Russia to gain a combat advantage. Speaking in Prague at the end of a meeting of the alliance’s military chiefs, Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer said: “Every nation that is attacked has the right to defend itself. And that right does not stop at the border of its own nation.”

Lieutenant General Karel Řehka, Chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces, made it clear that his country does not impose any weapons restrictions on kyiv.

“We believe that Ukrainians should decide for themselves how to use it,” Řehka said.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, however, has consistently rejected the idea that long-range strikes would be a game-changer.

“I don’t believe that any single capability can be decisive, and I stand by that comment,” Austin said, noting that Ukraine has other means to strike long-range targets.