Officials acknowledged that Ukraine has completely run out of longer-range Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, missiles.
According to a US official and a Ukrainian lawmaker on the country’s defense committee, Ukraine has run out of the ATACMS, AP reports. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to provide military weapons details.
The US official said the US provided fewer than 40 of those missiles overall and that Ukraine ran out of them in late January. Senior US defense leaders, including the previous Pentagon chief, Lloyd Austin, had made it clear that only a limited number of the ATACMS would be delivered and that the US and NATO allies considered other weapons to be more valuable in the fight.
US President Donald Trump believes he can to end the three-year all-out war and pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to enter talks, with Russia’s decision still not made. The suspension of US assistance happened days after Zelenskyy and Trump argued about the conflict in a tense White House meeting. The administration’s decision to resume military aid after talks on 12 March with senior Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia marked a sharp shift in its stance.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who led the American delegation to Saudi Arabia, where Ukraine consented to the US ceasefire proposal, said Washington will pursue “multiple points of contacts” with Russia to see if President Vladimir Putin is ready to negotiate an end to the war. He declined to give details or say what steps might be taken if Putin refuses to engage.
Related:
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- US resumes intelligence sharing and military aid to Ukraine
- Russia and America both want Ukraine to “choose” defeat. And we’re watching it live
- French defense minister says 15 countries are looking to give “some sort” of security guarantees to Ukraine
- Rubio says Ukraine must make territorial concessions to “prevent more suffering”
- UPDATE: Ukraine is ready for 30-day ceasefire with Russia as US to resume aid for Kyiv
- Frontline report: Ukraine strikes Russian air bases with ATACMS missiles crippling aircraft repair capabilities
