Since the beginning of the new offensive from the Russian Federation in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine has been trying to convince the Biden administration to lift its ban on the use of US-provided weapons for strikes in Russian territory.
This week, a group of Ukrainian parliament members is in Washington to enlist Congress’ support. They claim that the ban on the use of American weapons for attacks on the Russian Federation “ties the hands” of the Ukrainian military, given that Ukraine’s defensive strategy requires attacking military depots in enemy territory.
Ukrainian authorities have watched the Russians mass near the border for weeks, but Washington policy has prevented Ukraine from using weapons provided by the US, including ATACMS ballistic missiles, to launch a pre-emptive strike. As a condition for providing long-range weapons to Ukraine, the US requires that they are not used in Russian territory.
Moscow is well aware of this limitation, which is why it was able to concentrate military equipment and at least 30,000 troops on the border without risk of attack.