The News
Ukraine is pressing the United States to allow it to more freely use long-range missiles against Russia.
Kyiv’s foreign minister is meeting his European counterparts in Brussels on Thursday to rally their support on the matter, while the Ukrainian defense minister travels to America to make the case in Washington.
Ukraine is rapidly expanding its defense capacity — it test-fired home-grown ballistic missiles this week and used recently acquired F-16s to help repel a Russian aerial barrage. Earlier this month it seized a significant chunk of territory within Russia, which it won in a surprise offensive.
SIGNALS
Ukrainian FM builds argument for long-range use
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told Politico that his country’s top priority is getting permission from its allies to use long-range missiles to strike deep into Russian territory. So far, nations have pushed back on the suggestion over fears it could drag them into the conflict. “The moment we can shoot, the moment we have enough missiles and can use [the missiles], then it will work. But as of now, we are still in the process of talking, of negotiating,” Kuleba said, as he moves to rally European support in Brussels.
Developing weapons is Kyiv’s long-term goal
Ukraine has long angled to develop its own long-range missiles that could pad out its weapons capacity. Kyiv’s newly-tested missile was “a completely new development, from scratch,” one source close to its development told The Associated Press. “This is not an extension of an old Soviet project.” The new weapon, called the Palianytsia, is believed to have a range of up to 430 miles, making it comparable to the ATACMS missiles supplied by the US. As many as 20 Russian air bases are located within that range, the news agency noted.