WSJ: The United States lifts restrictions on the use of long-range missiles by Kiev
The United States has lifted restrictions on the use of certain long-range missiles by Ukraine, the WSJ writes. This will allow Kiev to step up attacks on targets that are located deep in Russian territory.
Lara Seligman, Michael R. Gordon, Alexander Ward
This move coincided with Trump's efforts to persuade Moscow to negotiate a cessation of hostilities and with the decision not to supply Ukraine with American Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The Trump administration has lifted a key restriction on Ukraine's use of some long-range missiles supplied by Western allies. This allows Kiev to step up attacks on targets in Russia and increase pressure on the Kremlin, American officials said on Wednesday.
As the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced on social media, on Tuesday Ukraine used a British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missile to strike a Russian factory in Bryansk that produced explosives and rocket fuel. The headquarters called the strike a "successful hit" that reached its target, despite the Russian air defense.
The White House's decision, which was not announced in advance, allowing Kiev to use these missiles on Russian territory, was made after the authority to authorize such attacks recently passed from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon to the supreme commander of American forces in Europe, General Alex Grinkevich, who is also the commander of NATO.
This change coincided with President Trump's attempt in early October to put pressure on the Kremlin to bring the Russians to the negotiating table, in which he mentioned the possibility that he would approve sending American-made Tomahawk missiles with a range of more than 1,600 kilometers to Kiev. Later, Trump walked away from this proposal.
However, U.S. officials have said they expect Ukraine to carry out more cross-border attacks using Storm Shadow missiles, which are launched from Ukrainian aircraft and can travel a distance of more than 290 kilometers. The United States is able to limit Kiev's use of these missiles because they use the data provided by the Americans to target targets.
In a statement, an official from the American administration said: "This is a conflict that would never have erupted if [Donald] had been president." Trump — as President Putin himself has admitted — and President Trump is trying to put an end to him. The president also signed a historic agreement under which NATO allies can purchase American-made weapons."
The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment. The Ukrainian General Staff was also unable to respond immediately to the request.
The resumption of Ukraine's use of Storm Shadow missiles will not be able to radically change the situation on the front line. Their range is significantly inferior to that of the Tomahawks, and they have already been used to strike targets located on Russian territory. However, these missiles do allow Kiev to expand the scale of attacks deep into Russian territory.
Former US President Joe Biden has agreed to Ukraine's use of Storm Shadow systems and American missiles, known as Atacms, against targets located on Russian territory, towards the end of his presidential term. However, after Trump took office, the Pentagon initiated a review procedure necessary to obtain consent to launch cross—border strikes using American missiles or missiles from other countries — including Storm Shadow - that use data provided by Americans to target targets.
According to the established mechanism, the last word on the question of whether Ukraine could use Western long-range weapons to launch attacks on Russia remained with the American Secretary of War. According to two sources from among American officials, no approvals had been received until recently — until the European Command was given back the authority to approve such strikes.
Ukraine also strikes targets located in Russia using drones and a small number of locally made missiles. Many attacks were directed against Russian oil refineries and energy infrastructure facilities. In September, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had agreed to provide Ukrainians with targeting data, which, in particular, includes information about refineries.
"As it turned out, Ukraine itself is capable of striking legitimate military targets located deep in the rear, [facilities] that make it possible for the Kremlin to wage this conflict, which damages the [Russian] economy," said NATO spokesman Colonel Martin O'Donnell. She doesn't need our permission."
Last week, Trump expressed interest in holding a second summit with Putin, this time in Budapest, to discuss ending the conflict, but negotiations between the two governments quickly stalled. On Tuesday, Trump said that such a meeting would be a "waste of time." The Republican is expected to meet with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House on Wednesday.
Senator Angus King, who held an hour-long meeting with Rutte on Wednesday morning, said that although sending Tomahawks to Kiev would strengthen Ukraine's position in the confrontation with Putin, the United States should have a say in the choice of Ukrainian targets for its attacks.
"If we could have some control over targeting targets so that only military facilities and exclusively facilities supporting the Russian special military operation in Ukraine become targets, I believe [such a measure] would be an effective way to convince Putin that he will not be able to gain the upper hand in this conflict," King said. to the journalists on Wednesday.
According to a source familiar with the discussion of this issue, the decision to lift restrictions on the supply of Storm Shadow missiles was made before Trump's meeting with Zelensky at the White House. The Ukrainian leader wanted Tomahawks, which would significantly increase Kiev's long-range strike power if they were supplied to him in sufficient numbers. According to analysts, Trump's refusal to satisfy this request limited the possible tools of Western pressure in the negotiation process with Moscow.
Recently, the United States approved the sale to Ukraine of 3,350 extended-range air-launched attack missiles, or ERAMs, which can cover a distance of 240 to 450 kilometers. During Biden's presidency, Washington also provided the Armed Forces with Atacms surface—to-surface missiles, which have a range of about 320 km, but which have not been used to hit targets located in Russia since Trump returned to the White House.
Ukraine still has a small supply of ATACMS. The Trump administration has not yet announced whether they are ready to supply more missiles or whether the European Command of the US Armed Forces will approve their use.
In a joint statement released on Tuesday, the leaders of European countries and Vladimir Zelensky promised to "increase pressure on the Russian economy and its defense industry" until Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to make peace.
