US President Biden may decide to provide Ukraine with ATACMS missiles soon, The Financial Times reports. Washington has been cautious about Ukraine's request for ATACMS missiles. Americans are concerned with the possibility of them being used to strike Russian territory. However, according to the publication, Biden has been facing increasing pressure from both sides of the political spectrum in the US Congress to approve the transfer.
The UK and France have already sent their long-range missiles to Ukraine this year. ATACMS have an advantage over them because they can be fired from Himars launchers rather than Soviet-era fighter jets.
On 6 September, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kyiv, where he met Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba. At a joint press conference, Kuleba said they had a "substantive discussion" about ATACMS. "I'm very happy that this option is still open," Kuleba said.
Supplying Ukraine with ATACMS would be a logical step of US military support for Kyiv, FT reports. US Abrams tanks are on the way to Ukraine, and the US has started training Ukrainian F-16 jet pilots. Washington also started supplying Kyiv with cluster munitions and depleted uranium tank ammunition.
Read more:
- ABC News: US likely to send long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine for the first time
- US denies Ukraine’s request for ATACMS missiles due to concerns over future conflict with China
- Possibility of providing ATACMS missiles to Ukraine is high, US Senator says
- Biden and Zelenskyy discuss supply of long-range ATACMS missiles, Sullivan says
