Ukraine is “not interested” in
attacking Russian territory and only intends to use foreign supplied weapons to
drive out invading forces from its own land, the country’s president Volodymyr
Zelensky said to Newsmax in an interview while Moscow accused Washington
of “adding fuel to fire” by sending more advanced weapons systems to Kyiv.
Speaking to Newsmax,
Zelensky responded to the White House’s concerns about U.S.-supplied weapons
being used to attack Russia, stating the fighting is taking place on its own
territory and not on Russia’s.
Zelensky said Ukraine’s
primary goal was to use foreign military aid to “de-block” its own cities and
needs weapons that can hit targets “as far as 100 kilometers (62 miles)” away.
Zelensky’s statement comes
after President Joe Biden said the U.S. does not plan to send
artillery to Ukraine which can reach Russia’s territory—likely referencing
Russian towns and cities near Ukraine’s eastern border.
Despite his concerns, Biden
announced in an op-ed published in the New York Times the
U.S. is sending “advanced rocket systems and munitions” to Ukraine that will
allow it to carry out precision strikes on battlefield targets.
Biden noted the U.S. was not
“encouraging or enabling” Ukraine to carry out strikes outside its own borders
and is not interested in a prolonged conflict “just to inflict pain on Russia.”
The Kremlin, however,
dismissed Biden’s contention stating it was assessing the threat of these
rockets targeting Russian territory and implied such an incident could raise
the risk of direct conflict between Russia and the U.S., Reuters reported.
