“Ukraine itself decides how to conduct its war”: Blinken on strikes against Russia with Western weapons

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken stated at a hearing in the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives that the United States does not support or encourage the use of Western weapons supplied to Ukraine for attacks outside Ukrainian territory. Still, Ukraine itself decides how to dispose of these weapons effectively.

Radio Svoboda and the US State Department reported that.

Blinken emphasized that the task of the US and its allies is to supply Ukraine with the weapons it needs to repel Russian aggression.

"We have provided Ukraine with the necessary assistance. The United States has rallied 50 countries around the world to stand up for Ukraine and prevent it from being wiped off the map, as Vladimir Putin wanted.

We rallied the international community to share this burden," Blinken noted.

Several members of Congress, including the committee's chairman, Republican Michael McCaul, questioned Blinken at Wednesday's hearing about why the Joe Biden administration is barring Ukraine from using American weapons to strike targets inside Russia.

They, in particular, made the statement that national security adviser Jake Sullivan supports such a ban and that Congress did not set such restrictions in its decisions on allocating aid to Ukraine.

Earlier, Blinken avoided a direct answer to a clarifying question about whether the United States would allow American weapons to hit the territory of the Russian Federation.

It should be noted that the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence released a bipartisan letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin urging to grant Ukraine permission to target Russian territory and increase their training on American F-16 fighter jets.

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From the very beginning of the full-scale invasion, the United States provided military aid to Ukraine on the condition that American weapons would not be used for strikes on the territory of the Russian Federation.

Recently, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) published a conclusion that if it were not for this ban, the new offensive of the Russian Federation in the north of the Kharkiv region would not have been so successful. According to analysts, US restrictions on Ukraine's ability to strike military targets in Russia have created shelters in the border areas of the Russian Federation, from where Russian aircraft can launch planned bomb and missile strikes on Ukrainian positions and populated areas.

President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized that the possibility of using Western weapons on the territory of Russia is not an offensive but the protection of Ukrainians.

The US Helsinki Commission also stated that the US should allow Ukraine to use American weapons to counter the Russian Armed Forces in the border regions of Russia.

However, the Pentagon said that American weapons are intended for use on the territory of Ukraine.

On Saturday, May 18, The Wall Street Journal wrote that Ukraine appealed to the administration of US President Joe Biden with a request to lift the restrictions. Sources told reporters that the request, which was made last week, is currently under review.

However, the head of the Pentagon said that the US expects Ukraine to use the provided weapons on its territory.