Ukraine has reportedly submitted a revised list of potential ATACMS targets to the US after a White House official downplayed the weapon’s capabilities.
According to two European diplomats who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, Kyiv initially requested that Washington allow the use of its ATACMS, or Army Tactical Missile System, to strike Russian airfields housing glide bomb-carrying warplanes.
However, US National Security Advisor John Kirby argued that the requested targets are well beyond the missile’s effective range, which is only 300 kilometers (186 miles).
“We’ve done the math on this — 90% of them (Russian airfields) lie outside 300 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, deep inside Russia,” he noted.
As a result, the sources said Kyiv revised its target list to focus on Russian military command centers, fuel and weapons depots, and troop concentrations, hoping to persuade the US to permit strikes deeper into enemy territory.
‘Working That Out’
While Kirby already indicated there will be no change in US policy regarding the weapons it supplied to Ukraine, President Joe Biden has hinted at the possibility of authorizing it amid Moscow’s increasing aggression.
He told reporters last week, “We’re working that out right now,” after his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky repeatedly called for the restrictions to be lifted.
Biden also recently met with newly-installed UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to discuss the matter, signaling openness to consider Kyiv’s persistent request.
Meanwhile, some US officials are skeptical about the impact of granting Ukraine greater freedom to use Western weapons.
They argued that Moscow has likely moved its most immediate threats to facilities beyond the range of US-supplied missiles.
Additionally, they noted that Kyiv already uses kamikaze drones for deep strikes into Russia, which are significantly cheaper than the ATACMS or other long-range weapons.