The Long-Range Weapons Ukraine Wants to Use on Russia, Explained
The United States and its allies are once again considering expanding the capabilities they provide to Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion.
Ukraine has asked to use Western long-range weapons to strike deeper into Russia for months. It argues that it needs those weapons to hit military sites that house Russian warplanes and that launch missiles into Ukrainian cities.
Those entreaties were a major topic of discussion on Friday as President Biden met with Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain, who is trying to nudge the United States to give more latitude to the Ukrainians. Mr. Starmer would especially like Mr. Biden’s support for Britain to allow Ukraine to use British Storm Shadow missiles to fire farther into Russia.
Neither leader announced any policy changes after that meeting. Leaving the White House, Mr. Starmer told reporters, “We had a wide-ranging discussion about strategy,” and a White House summary of the meeting said that the two countries had “reaffirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine.”
Mr. Biden has been reluctant to approve deep strikes in the past, fearing escalation with Russia. But in May, he allowed Ukraine to fire a number of U.S.-supplied weapons just over the border to attack Russian military bases from which attacks into Ukraine have been launched, and he later expanded that permission.
Now, Ukraine wants long-range weapons. It is also seeking permission to use weapons it already has to hit targets deeper in Russia. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia warned on Thursday that if the United States and its allies allowed that, they would put his country “at war” with NATO.
The debate in the U.S. administration centers, in large part, on these weapons.
Storm Shadows and SCALPs
Britain and France have already sent Ukraine air-launched cruise missiles that, so far, have struck Russian targets in Crimea and in the Black Sea. These missiles have a range of about 155 miles and have been fired from Ukraine’s aging fleet of Soviet-era and Russian-designed fighter jets.
Credit / The New York Times
