Conflicts

The US is prepared to give Kiev permission to use long-range missiles against targets in Russia. News outlet Capitol Hill surprised us with the news on Tuesday, by quoting from an interview with the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael McCaul.

"I spoke to Secretary of State Antony Blinken two days ago and he will go with his British colleague from London to Kiev to tell them that the country is allowed to hit Russia with ATACMS missiles." Ukraine will have to use the ATACMS sparingly. Production in the US has already increased, but the stock is limited. In the meantime, the American and British foreign ministers have arrived in Kiev, where they are meeting with Ukrainian President, Volodomir Zelensky, and will most probably give him the green light.

Because the United States feared escalation, Kiev has so far only been allowed to use American missiles that only have a range of 77 kilometers. But now, it's giving Ukraine permission to deploy ATACMS with a range of 300 kilometers, which will allow Ukraine to hit some 245 strategic military targets deep inside Russia.

"Appropriate reaction from Moscow"
If Ukraine uses these missiles, Moscow will show an "appropriate reaction," says Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, but he also added that "there is no reason to expect some kind of reaction everywhere."

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has said that Russia will "destroy" deliveries of such missiles, reports the Russian news agency Tass. He threatens that they will escalate the war.

(MH with SR for Tagtik/Source: Tass - Reuters/Illustration picture: Pixabay)