After Kyiv visit, Blinken urges White House to allow Ukraine to strike Russia with US weapons – NYT

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who visited Kyiv last week, is trying to convince the White House that Washington should allow Ukraine to use American weapons on Russian territory, The New York Times journalists learned.

Blinken initiated a debate in the administration of President Joe Biden about relaxing the ban on the use of American weapons against Russian artillery launchers located directly on the border with Russia.

Blinken's proposal is still just a proposal, according to officials who spoke to reporters: It is not known how many of Biden's inner circle have backed it, and Biden himself has not yet discussed it with the secretary of state.

NYT sources believe that Blinken's position changed precisely because of the trip to the Ukrainian capital. There, he saw with his own eyes the consequences of the new offensive of the Russian military and more: the Russian troops placed weapons directly on the other side of the border with northeastern Ukraine and aimed them at Kharkiv, knowing that in response the Ukrainians would only be able to use non-American drones and other types of weapons to engage these targets.

Ukraine is intensifying attacks on Russian ships, oil facilities and power plants, but it is doing so mostly with the help of drones of its own production, which "do not have the power and speed of the American weapons," NYT notes. And more and more often, the Russians intercept Ukrainian drones and missiles or knock them off course thanks to advanced methods of electronic warfare.

On May 15, 2024, 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 reported that Washington has not changed its position on the ban on the use of American weapons for attacks on Russia. According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, there should be no such bans.

The reasons why Western partners do not allow their weapons to strike military targets in the Russian Federation are the fear of nuclear escalation and the desire to maintain trade and diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation, Zelenskyy believes.

On May 21, a group of US congressmen from both parties appealed to the Pentagon chief, asking to allow Ukraine to use Western weapons for strikes on the territory of the Russian Federation.