He said the new weapons shipment “would allow them to hit key targets more accurately on the battlefield in Ukraine.”
The officials said the systems the United States is sending to Ukraine will be equipped with munitions that will allow Ukraine to launch rockets about 49 miles. That is far less than the maximum range of the systems, but far greater than anything that has been sent to Ukraine to date.
The new security assistance package, to be officially announced on Wednesday, will also include aerial surveillance radars, additional Javelin anti-tank weapons, anti-armor weapons, artillery shells, helicopters, tactical vehicles and spare parts to help Ukrainians continue to maintain equipment. . officials said.
Still, Biden tried to make clear what the US goals were in Ukraine and was careful to point out that the US does not seek to directly engage Russia.
“We are not looking for a war between NATO and Russia. As much as you disagree with Mr. Putin and find his actions an outrage, the United States will not try to bring about the overthrow of him in Moscow,” Biden said, about two months ago. after declaring in Warsaw, Poland, that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot stay in power.”
CNN previously reported that US officials debated for weeks whether to send the advanced rocket systems to Ukraine because they can strike much further than any weapons they already have. The long range of the weapons, technically capable of attacking Russian territory, raised concerns that Russia might view the shipments as a provocation.
“As long as the United States or our allies are not attacked, we will not directly engage in this conflict, either by sending American troops to fight in Ukraine or by attacking Russian forces,” Biden wrote in the op-ed. “We are not encouraging or allowing Ukraine to attack beyond its borders. We don’t want to prolong the war just to inflict pain on Russia.”
Last Friday, a prominent Russian TV presenter warned that sending long-range rocket systems to Ukraine would “cross a red line” that would “provoke a very harsh response from Russia.” But the Biden administration made it clear that he would not send ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems that can penetrate deep into sovereign Russian territory.
“I think the US position is to want to provide whatever assistance we can to the Ukrainians without escalating the situation to the point where the war boils over or, frankly, goes in a terrible direction,” Secretary of State said earlier. Army, Christine Wormuth. Tuesday.
The US, meanwhile, has accepted some risk to its own preparedness by continuing to ship weapons from Defense Department inventories to Ukraine, Wormuth said, but not a risk the Pentagon sees as too high.
“We’ve really leaned into trying to provide everything that lawmakers feel is essential to reach Ukrainians. And we’ve taken some risks for our own preparation, not an unacceptable level of risk at all, but I think we’ll continue.” do that,” he said while speaking at an Atlantic Council event on the Army’s role in the National Defense Strategy.
The president said US officials “currently see no indication that Russia intends to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, although Russia’s occasional rhetoric to shake the nuclear saber is itself dangerous and grossly irresponsible.”
“Let me be clear: any use of nuclear weapons in this conflict on any scale would be completely unacceptable to us and the rest of the world and would carry serious consequences,” Biden wrote.
This story has been updated with additional information on Tuesday.
Reference-www.cnn.com