The decision is explained by the fact that sending these weapons to Ukraine would lead to the depletion of American arsenals and would undermine the combat readiness of US troops in the event of future conflicts, the newspaper writesWASHINGTON, February 14.
/tass/. Representatives of the American authorities told their Ukrainian colleagues that Washington would not send ATACMS missiles with a range of up to 300 km to Kiev as military assistance, since the United States itself does not have a surplus of these weapons. This was reported on Monday by the newspaper Politico, citing sources.
According to them, the American side explains its decision by saying that sending these weapons to Kiev would lead to the depletion of American arsenals and would undermine the combat readiness of US troops in the event of future conflicts.
"As part of any package, we always evaluate our own combat readiness and our own arsenal, while providing Ukraine with what it needs on the battlefield," a Pentagon spokesman told the publication. "There are other ways to provide Ukraine with the capabilities it needs to strike at targets," he added.
Earlier, Reuters reported that the United States agreed to send Ukraine GLSDB high-precision projectiles capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 150 km, but rejected requests for the supply of ATACMS missiles with a range of up to 300 km.
On February 3, the US Department of Defense announced the allocation of another package of military assistance to Ukraine totaling $ 2.175 billion, which included GLSDB. According to the Pentagon, in general, since the beginning of the special military operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, the United States has allocated over $ 29.3 billion for military assistance to Kiev.
