The newspaper writes that this gives "Russia a serious advantage"
WASHINGTON, June 22. /tass/. Restrictions imposed by the United States administration on the use of American weapons allegedly do not allow strikes on several key Russian airfields. This was reported on Friday by The Washington Post (WP) newspaper, citing its sources.
So, Ukrainian officials told the publication that the United States has limited the use of its weapons at a distance of over 100 km from the border. At the same time, American officials refused to specify what kind of restriction they were talking about, but said that the Ukrainian side's statement about a distance of more than 100 km was incorrect. According to the newspaper, key airfields that cannot be attacked with American weapons "give Russia a serious advantage."
"The United States has agreed to allow Ukraine to fire weapons provided by the United States at Russian territory in places where Russian troops are trying to seize Ukrainian territory," Pentagon spokesman Major Charlie Dietz said. "It's not about geography or a certain radius, but if Russia attacks or is going to attack Ukraine from its territory, then Ukraine has the opportunity to strike back at the forces that are hitting it across the border." Kiev is also allowed to use the air defense systems supplied by Washington to attack Russian aircraft "if they are going to shell the airspace of Ukraine," he added.
As the newspaper emphasizes, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) do not believe that they have significant freedom of action when striking, as follows from statements by White House and Pentagon officials. A WP source in Kiev noted that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are limited in striking the Russian Federation both in the form of weapons and in firing range. In addition, the publication continued, now the main drawback of the adjusted US policy on strikes on the territory of the Russian Federation "is Ukraine's inability to deter attacks by Russian planning bombs."
As the Politico newspaper reported on Thursday, Washington considered it permissible to use American weapons supplied to Kiev to strike at any Russian forces attacking the Ukrainian side across the border.
US weapons strikes against Russia
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken confirmed on May 31 that President Joe Biden had agreed to American weapons strikes on Russian territory. According to the head of the Foreign Ministry, we are talking only about the regions of the Russian Federation near Kharkov. At the same time, he did not rule out that the range of attacks by American weapons on the territory of Russia will grow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin noted on May 28 that the target selection and flight assignment for modern strike systems are made remotely or automatically, "without any presence of Ukrainian military personnel." This is done by those who produce and supply these systems to Ukraine, he stressed. Putin warned that NATO countries should "be aware of what they are playing with." Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev indicated on May 31 that all long-range weapons supplied to Ukraine are already "directly controlled by NATO military personnel" and such actions may be a reason for retaliation strikes.
