Biden agrees to send advanced missile systems to Ukraine
US President Joe Biden has agreed to provide Ukraine with advanced missile systems that can accurately strike long-range Russian targets as part of a $700 million arms package expected to be revealed today.
Senior administration officials have said the United States will provide Ukraine with mobile rocket launcher systems that can hit targets up to 80 km away with accuracy, after Ukraine gave "assurances" that it would not use the missiles to strike targets inside Russia.
In an opinion piece in the New York Times yesterday, Biden said that the Russian invasion of Ukraine would end through diplomacy, but that the United States should provide significant arms and ammunition to bolster Ukraine's place at the negotiating table.
"That is why I decided to provide the Ukrainians with more advanced missile systems and munitions that would enable them to strike key targets with greater accuracy on the battlefield in Ukraine," Biden wrote.
Officials said the package also includes ammunition, radars and more Javelin anti-tank missiles, as well as anti-armor weapons.
Ukrainian officials are asking allies to have long-range missile systems that can launch a barrage of missiles hundreds of kilometers away, hoping to turn the tide of the three-month-old war.
"We will not send to Ukraine missile systems that will strike inside Russia," Biden told reporters, yesterday.
He did not rule out providing any specific weapons system, but he seemed to set conditions on how to use it.
Biden wants to help Ukraine defend itself, but is opposed to providing weapons that Ukraine could use to attack Russia.
The West is increasingly willing to give Ukraine longer-range weapons, including the M777 howitzer, as its forces fight the Russians more successfully than intelligence officials expected.
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