(AFP) – President Joe Biden said in an article in the New York Times that the United States will send advanced missile systems to Ukraine to attack “key targets” of Russian forces.
“We will provide the Ukrainians with more advanced missile and ammunition systems that will enable them to more accurately hit key battlefield targets in Ukraine,” Biden said, without specifying the types of systems.
A senior White House official explained that these are Himar systems (High-Movement Artillery Rocket System), multiple rocket launchers mounted on lightly armored vehicles.
The official, who declined to be named, said the systems would use precision-guided munitions with a range of 80 km. Washington has decided not to send longer range munitions.
“The Ukrainians will use these systems to repel Russian advances on Ukrainian territory, but they will not be used against Russian soil,” he said.
Stating that he wants Ukraine to be “in the strongest possible position” if negotiated with Russia, Biden said, “We do not encourage Ukraine and we do not allow Ukraine to attack beyond its borders.”
The equipment is part of a broader new component of US military aid to Ukraine totaling $700 million, details of which will be announced Wednesday.
At a time when Ukraine is facing an intense Russian attack in the east of the country, Biden said in his column in the newspaper that “he will not pressure the Ukrainian government, neither privately nor publicly, to make territorial concessions.”
Russian forces have stated their aim to control the Donbass mining basin, which Moscow-backed pro-Russian separatist forces partially took control of in 2014.
The Ukrainians had been asking for rocket launchers for a while to allow them to attack Russian positions by placing the batteries away from the front.
The US Congress recently launched a $40 billion package to finance arms shipments to Ukraine.
source: Noticias
