Senior Republicans urge Biden to lift restrictions on Ukraine hitting targets deep inside Russia
CNN
A group of key House Republicans have written to President Joe Biden urging him to lift the restrictions on the use of US-provided long-range weapons systems and allow Kyiv to strike targets deep inside Russia.
A group of key House Republicans have written to President Joe Biden urging him to lift the restrictions on the use of US-provided long-range weapons systems and allow Kyiv to strike targets deep inside Russia. The letter, dated Monday, echoes repeated appeals from the Ukrainian government itself, including President Volodymyr Zelensky. It was sent ahead of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to the Ukrainian capital Wednesday and as the Biden administration continues to assess Kyiv’s request to carry out strikes deeper inside Russia. US officials expect Blinken, who is traveling to Ukraine with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, to gather information during his trip to Kyiv on how these longer-range strikes would factor into Ukraine’s broader battlefield strategy. The UK is also considering whether to allow Ukraine to strike deeper inside Russia with its own long-range system, the Storm Shadow. Blinken said he expects the topic to be discussed when Biden and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer meet Friday in Washington. “We’ll be listening intently to our Ukrainian partners. We’ll both be reporting back to the prime minister, to President Biden in the coming days. And I fully anticipate this is something they’ll take up when they meet on Friday,” the top US diplomat said in London Tuesday. Asked later Tuesday whether the US will lift the restrictions, Biden answered, “We’re working that out right now.”
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