Ukraine will be allowed to shoot at greater distance if Russia tries to expand frontline

The United States of America will allow Ukraine to fire at a greater distance, in case the Russian Federation tries to expand the front of the current hostilities.

This was stated by Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs James O'Brien during a hearing in the House Committee on Foreign Relations, Voice of America.

During the meeting in Congress, the USA once again called for the removal of all restrictions from the Armed Forces on the use of long-range American ATACMS missiles against Russian military facilities on the territory of the Russian Federation.

"The war criminal Putin and his forces have calculated the exact distance for strikes on Ukraine from Russian territory in such a way that Ukraine cannot strike back. Although some restrictions on Ukrainian counterattacks have already been lifted, this is clearly not enough," said the Republican congressman Joe Wilson.

Lawmakers who support lifting all bans from the Ukrainian army emphasize that the demand is bipartisan, with support from both Republicans and Democrats.

Speaking at a committee hearing, Republican Congressman Thomas Kean said the change in policy to allow Ukraine to strike targets on Russian territory only happened after Russian forces opened a new front near Kharkiv.

And even then, according to the Republican, "the administration resorted to half-measures."

"The policy has been revised, but in general, Congress still doesn't understand exactly what that policy is. Recent reports indicate that the administration is restricting the use of American weapons on Russian territory within 100 kilometers of the Ukrainian border.

This is much less than the full range of ATACMS, which is more than 300 kilometers. How many Russian airbases are in the range of ATACMS that the administration does not allow to be hit by Ukraine?" Kean asked the State Department representative.

O'Brien said, "If Russia tries to expand the current front, then Ukraine will be allowed to fire at a greater distance."

As a representative of the State Department noted, Russia is losing its ability to advance due to Ukraine's destruction of Russian facilities near the borders.

O'Brien added that the US priority was to provide weapons and concentrate them "in the areas of greatest need."

"We are witnessing a sharp change in Russia's ability to sustain its campaign against Ukraine due to the loss of facilities in the zone where fire is allowed," the Assistant Secretary of State stressed.

We would like to remind that the position of the United States regarding the use of American weapons by the Ukrainian army on the territory of Russia currently remains unchanged, but this does not apply to Russian military facilities in the temporarily occupied Crimea.

It should be noted that after the new offensive of Russian troops in the Kharkiv region, some European countries started a campaign to ease restrictions on the use of weapons transferred to Ukraine. More than 10 European countries supported Kyiv regarding the use of Western weapons on the territory of Russia.

In particular, on May 31, US President Joe Biden allowed Ukraine to strike with American weapons on the territory of Russia. It was noted that the permit applies only to the Russian territory near the Kharkiv region and is aimed at the protection of Kharkiv.