Austin justifies the restrictions on long-range strikes using Western weapons and believes Ukraine can win even without them.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin defended the US’ restrictions placed on Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles and insisted that the war-torn nation “absolutely” can defeat Russia even without this capability. He added that Russia has already moved the planes it uses to attack Ukraine with guided aerial bombs beyond the range of the ATACMS system.

“The Ukrainians can continue to strike at long range, and they will. Ukraine has a lot of capabilities that we have provided in terms of drones,” Austin said.

He added that Ukrainians can also produce their own long-range drones.

“They are very effective. We have seen them carry out attacks or operations at a distance of 400 kilometers from the border and even further,” he said.

The Pentagon head gave his assurance that he believes in Ukraine’s victory and offered his definition of victory.

“Ukraine absolutely can win. And we define winning as Ukraine being a sovereign state that can defend its territory and deter aggression in the future”, said Austin.