Despite requests from Kyiv, the US is not supplying Ukraine with multiple launch rocket systems. About it told Politico sources. In their opinion, this is due to the fact that Washington is afraid of strikes against Russian territories with the use of these weapons and the prolongation of the conflict.
The firing range of modern American HIMARS systems is up to 300 kilometers. According to Kyiv, these systems will help Ukraine surpass Russian heavy artillery in terms of range and destructive power, which can largely determine the outcome of the war.
“There was momentum in Ramstein, but it seems to have cooled off,” one of the employees of the US Congress said in a conversation with the publication.
According to the interlocutor of the newspaper from the administration of US President Joe Biden, the authorities considered it more efficient to send 155-millimeter M777 howitzers to Ukraine instead of MLRS. However, according to sources, the Ukrainian authorities continue to request the supply of these weapons.
In particular, President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned about the need to obtain American multiple launch rocket systems M142 HIMARS and M270 MLRS during a speech to the leaders of the “Big Seven” in early May.
In my country blocked
present tense
Politico’s interlocutor added that “frustration is growing” among the Ukrainian authorities because of Washington’s concerns about military supplies.
Ukraine and the United States continue to actively discuss the supply of weapons, said an unnamed White House official. According to him, even taking into account the $3.8 billion worth of military assistance to Ukraine already provided since the end of February, not all the weapons requested by Kyiv can be quickly transferred to him.
In early May, US President Joe Biden signed a law on lend-lease for Ukraine, which will speed up the delivery of military equipment. A bill to allocate additional assistance to Ukraine for $40 billion was blocked in the Senate by a Republican senator.
