Joe Biden is considering providing longer-range missiles to Ukraine in its war with Russia following his controversial decision to also send cluster munitions.
The administration has been wary of sending Kyiv the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) because it has a range of just under 200 miles – meaning it could be used to strike Russia and Crimea from Ukraine.
Some U.S. politicians have maintained that while they want to arm Ukraine with the weapons to defend against Russian aggression, they do not want to provide the country with the means to launch their own counterattack.
After speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Vilnius, Lithuania during the 2023 NATO Summit on Wednesday, Biden told reporters that he is considering authorizing providing longer-range missiles.
Zelensky briefed Biden on his country’s continued counteroffensive after Russia invaded in February 2022.
The president told reporters before boarding Air Force One that he cannot provide more details on their meeting.
Meanwhile, lawmakers and politicians back home in the U.S. are still reeling over Biden’s move to give more cluster munitions to Ukraine.
The controversial weapon is banned by 100 countries – including Germany, France and the United Kingdom.
Cluster munitions weapons system dispenses a large number of tiny bomblets from a rocket and are prone to ‘duds’ that can explode at a later date, maiming or killing those who come in contact with it. Particularly at risk are children who mistake the dud bomb for a toy.
Russia and Ukraine have used the munitions since the onset of their conflict last year.’It’s very simple to criticize cluster munitions,’ Zelensky said during remarks in Lithuania on Wednesday.
‘I didn’t hear some of you countries criticize Russia,’ he added, acknowledging that it was a difficult decision for Biden that ‘will help us save us.’
Asked about sending ATACMS weapons, Biden told reporters there is an equivalent being considered.
‘What we need most of all is artillery shells,’ he said. ‘We’re in short supply, but we’re working on that. They seem very satisfied with everything we’re doing.’
At the NATO 2023 Summit on Wednesday, treaty countries unveiled their Joint Declaration of Support for Ukraine, but stopped short of admitting the country into the treaty organization.
Biden said the message NATO wants to send to Russian President Vladimir Putin is: ‘We’re together.’
The president, in a fiery speech in defense of Kyiv, claimed he had been ‘rebuilding’ ties with European allies after Trump’s spell in the White House and insisted that Putin ‘cannot be allowed to seize his neighbor’s territory by force.’
‘Russia could end this war tomorrow by withdrawing his forces from Ukraine’ and ‘ceasing his inhumane attacks on women and children’, the 80-year-old said.
‘Unfortunately, Russia has shown thus far no interest in the diplomatic outcome. Putin still wrongly believes that he can outlast Ukraine. He can’t believe it’s their land, their country and their future and even after all this time, Putin still doubts our staying power. He is still making a bad bet.
‘When Russian bombs began to fall, we did not hesitate to act. We rallied the world support the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their liberty and their sovereignty.
‘When Putin, and his craven lust for land and power, unleashed his brutal war on Ukraine, he was betting NATO would break apart. He thought NATO would break. He thought our unity would shatter at the first testing. He thought democratic leaders would be weak. But he thought wrong.’
