The US suddenly “reversed”, warned Ukraine

America and its allies have informed Ukraine of the risk of escalation if Western-supplied weapons are used to attack targets inside Russia, a senior US official said in a news release. monopoly. However, Washington does not necessarily prohibit Kiev from doing so. The sensitive discussions behind the scenes were “seeking to reach a common understanding of the risk of escalation”.

“We are concerned about escalation but still don’t want to put geo-restrictions or tie their hands too much with weapon that we are providing them,” one of the three US officials told Reuters.

Douglas Lute, retired US Army lieutenant general and former US ambassador to NATO, said that if the Ukrainian army were to attack deep inside Russia, “it would lead to a divisive debate within the alliance. And, of course, the union doesn’t want that. So does Ukraine.”

Reuters also confirmed that the administration of President Joe Biden is considering providing Ukraine with multiple missile launchers such as the M142 High Mobility Artillery Missile System (HIMARS), which could theoretically be used to attack deep into Russian territory.

Less than an hour after the story was posted, a Ukrainian official took to Twitter to ask the US to provide HIMARS.

Anton Gerashenko, an adviser to the Interior Ministry of Ukraine, wrote: “We urgently need M270 MLRS or M142 HIMARS multiple rocket launchers to save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers. The US has 2,000 MLRS in the army and in the arsenal. If they give us only 200 of them, we will stop the Russian attack on the Donbass and will push them outside of Ukraine!”

Mr. Gerashenko agreed with the views of Representative Jason Crow (Democrat, Colorado), who met the Ukrainian leader last month. Crow, a member of the House Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, said the United States had told Ukraine weapons “should be used responsibly,” but that he was “less concerned about escalation.” is to make sure that Ukraine can win now and push back the Russian forces.”

While, Ukraine admits major defeat in Donbass losing the important city of Liman, bringing Russian forces one step closer to Slavyansk. Fighting continued in Severodonetsk and Lisichansk.

Ukrainian artillery has hit several villages on the Russian side of the border in the past month, killing civilians. Kiev does not admit responsibility for the attacks. When two helicopters attacked a fuel depot in the Belgorod Region in early April, Ukrainian authorities first claimed responsibility, then denied it.

The aforementioned US concerns about escalation contrast with previous public comments by US and NATO officials. On April 27, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the Senate that it was up to Ukraine to decide whether to attack Russia or not. A day earlier, British Armed Forces Secretary James Heappey said that Ukraine’s targeting deep within the Russia was “completely legal,” prompting Moscow to warn it would respond in kind if such action were to take place.

Reuters ended the article by quoting a US official who warned that “there may be situations where Ukraine is cornered to the point where they feel they need to escalate further”, but that has yet to happen. .