Published June 7, 2024
Two attacks in the past week suggest the lifting of restrictions has allowed Ukraine a more effective defence.
Ukraine may have realised the first benefits of being allowed to strike Russian territory with Western weapons last week.
On May 26 and 27, France and Germany said they were allowing Ukraine to use their weapons against targets on Russian soil, following Russia’s new offensive against Kharkiv on May 10.
US sources told media on May 30 that the US was allowing Ukraine to use its weapons “for counter-fire purposes in Kharkiv”.
That suggested Ukraine was only allowed to fire back against a position from which incoming fire had originated, but not to use its intelligence to target weapons systems and troop concentrations pre-emptively.
“This US ambiguity misses an opportunity to deter Russian preparations for offensive operations elsewhere across the border into northern Ukraine,” said the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think-tank.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week reported concentrations of troops north of the Ukrainian city of Sumy.
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SOURCE: www.aljazeera.com
RELATED: Austin: U.S., Allies, Partners United in Ukraine’s Defense From Expansionist Russia
Europe now faces new dangers from an aggressive and expansionist Russia, said Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III today during a meeting with French Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu in Paris.
Published June 7, 2024
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SOURCE: www.defense.gov
RELATED: Austin: Enabling Ukraine strikes on Russian soil will prove “very helpful”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in Singapore on June 1. Photo: Ore Huiying/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Published June 6, 2024
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday that the new U.S. policy allowing Ukraine to use long-ranged weapons to strike deeper into Russia is “going to prove to be very, very helpful.”
Why it matters: There’s growing concern that if Russia defeats Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin will begin threatening other countries.
- Putin warned this week that Russia could provide long-range weapons to nations seeking to attack the West.
What they’re saying: Austin was asked by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer how far the U.S. is willing to go in letting Kyiv strike deeper into Russia with U.S. weapons when deemed necessary.
- “Our policy using long-range strike weaponry to go into Russia hasn’t changed,” said Austin, speaking from Normandy, France, where he joined world leaders including President Biden to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
- “But what we have done is provided Ukraine the ability to counter-fire, to fire back at those Russian troops that are firing at them, and to be able to take out their artillery batteries as they’re firing at the Ukrainians.
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SOURCE: www.axios.com
