Ukraine wants to strike Russia with American weapons. Pentagon still against it
The United States supports Ukraine's efforts to protect its sovereign territory from Russian invaders, Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said at a briefing. At the same time, Washington is still against Kyiv using American weapons to attack inside Russia.
The journalist asked why Ukraine cannot use US weapons to strike the territory of the aggressor country.
Ryder responded: "As Secretary [Lloyd Austin] highlighted, our policy hasn't changed. We are focused on providing Ukraine with capabilities that it needs to defend itself within Ukraine – Ukrainian sovereign territory. We're going to continue to have those conversations with our Ukrainian partners, as well as our international allies and partners, when it comes to the kinds of capabilities, to include air defense, that Ukraine needs to defend itself."
On May 21, a group of US congressmen from both parties appealed to the Pentagon chief to allow Ukrainian forces to use Western weapons for strikes on Russian territory. The letter was signed by 13 congressmen.
On May 15, 2024, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the United States does not encourage strikes on the territory of the Russian Federation, but Ukraine must decide for itself what to do.
On May 17, the Pentagon clarified that Washington has not changed its position on the ban on the use of American weapons for attacks on Russia.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that there should be no such bans.