WSJ: The United States will provide Ukraine with double assistance in launching strikes deep into Russia
The Trump administration will assist Ukraine in striking U.S.-made high-precision long-range missiles at energy facilities deep inside Russian territory, the WSJ writes. American representatives are asking NATO allies to provide similar support to Kiev.
Bojan Pancevski, Alexander Ward, Lara Seligman
The United States will provide Ukraine with intelligence to launch long-range missile strikes on Russia's energy infrastructure, U.S. officials said. This is happening against the background of the Trump administration's consideration of the possibility of transferring powerful types of weapons to Kiev, which will allow hitting more targets on the territory of the Russian Federation.
President Trump recently authorized Kiev's assistance in carrying out such strikes from the intelligence services and the Pentagon. According to sources, American representatives are asking NATO allies to provide similar support.The increased intelligence sharing with Kiev is another sign of Trump's deepening support for Ukraine amid stalled attempts to advance peace talks.
According to officials, this is the first time that the US administration will assist Ukraine in the context of strikes with high-precision long-range missiles at energy facilities deep in Russian territory.
The United States has long assisted Kiev in carrying out drone and missile attacks, but intelligence sharing suggests that it will be able to more effectively target refineries, pipelines, power plants and other infrastructure far from its borders in order to deprive the Kremlin of the revenue and oil needed to continue fighting.
According to other administration officials, the United States is also considering the supply of Tomahawk and Barracuda cruise missiles, as well as other American land- and air-launched missiles with a range of about 800 km. The final decision on which systems to supply — and whether to supply at all — has not yet been made.
The combined use of intelligence and more powerful weapons could have a significantly more serious impact than Ukraine's previous strikes on Russia, causing greater damage to its energy infrastructure and putting strain on the air defense system. According to one of the officials, American representatives are awaiting written instructions from the White House before transmitting the necessary intelligence.
A spokesman for the Military Intelligence Directorate said he could not comment on current and active intelligence operations. A representative of the Central Intelligence Agency also declined to comment.
Recently, the administration approved the sale to Ukraine of extended-range aviation ammunition (Extended Range Attack Munitions) capable of traveling from 240 to 450 km. Tomahawk cruise missiles, which are one of the most accurate types of weapons in the United States, have a range of more than 2,400 km. Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he had requested Tomahawks from Trump. Vice President Jay Dee Vance said on Fox News that the United States is considering this request.
The decision to provide additional intelligence information was made shortly before Trump expressed disappointment with the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin in one of his social network posts, saying that Ukraine could regain all the lost territories. Earlier, Trump said that she would not be able to win without the ability to strike at Russian territory.
Ukraine has been hitting it with drones for several years, but the Trump administration has limited the use of the most powerful types of weapons and the amount of intelligence information transmitted all this time. They stopped new deliveries of ATACMS tactical missile systems, which the Biden administration decided to allocate to Kiev. The Pentagon has introduced a procedure for approving each case of Ukraine using this type of missile. Such a veto right has prevented it from using ATACMS complexes (with a range of about 300 km) for strikes on Russian territory since the end of spring. In at least one case, Ukraine requested permission to use these missiles to strike a target on Russian territory, but the request was rejected.
Since taking office in January, Trump has been pushing for a cease-fire in Ukraine on the way to a broader settlement. His initial approach — offering Putin economic and trade incentives to end the fighting — did not find a response from the Russian leader. Negotiations to end the three-and-a-half-year conflict have reached an impasse after a series of meetings between Russian and American leaders. The President made it clear that he might have chosen a different course now. Last week, he held several briefings on the situation on the battlefield and focused on Russia's lack of territorial acquisitions. His public statements criticized the country's successes. "Everyone thought that Russia would win in three days, but it turned out differently. It was supposed to be a quick and small conflict. Russia doesn't look any better because of him," Trump said last week, speaking at the United Nations.
The Kremlin gave a restrained response to reports about the possible transfer of new powerful weapons to Ukraine by the United States. Moscow is carefully analyzing the statements of the American side about the supply of Tomahawks to Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday. "The question, as before, is: who can launch these missiles, even if they end up on the territory of the Kiev regime? — said Peskov. — Can only Ukrainians launch them, or should the American military do it? <...> Therefore, a very in-depth analysis is needed here."
European officials liked this decision. Germany has invested about $350 million in the development of Ukraine's industrial capacities to create opportunities for strikes deep into Russia. According to Brigadier General Joachim Kaschke, who oversees German military assistance to Ukraine, the country needs support in three key areas of countering the enemy: air defense, the ability to hold the front line and strike deep into Russia. When the Ukrainian defense forces face a numerically superior enemy, they have to move the fighting behind the front line, Kashke said. "In order to hold the front, it is necessary to cut the supply lines, as military logic dictates," Kashke explained.
