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Washington wants to help Ukraine defend itself, but does not support strikes with U.S.-made weapons on Russian territory, U.S. Ambassador Bridget Brink said at a meeting with journalists on May 3, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
Ukraine has continued to press its Western allies for longer-range weapons, but partners have hesitated about delivering arms that could potentially be used to strike within Russian territory.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Kyiv will not use weapons supplied by foreign partners to hit targets outside of the country’s borders. Such restrictions do not apply to domestically produced arms, some of which are reportedly capable of striking deep into Russia.
When asked how Ukraine could win the war if there are restrictions from the U.S. on strikes inside Russia, Brink said that this position has remained unchanged since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
"The first part of helping Ukraine defend itself is supplying our weapons and those of our partners to support the efforts of your brave heroes on the front lines to return your territories," the ambassador said.
"Our position from the beginning has been that we do not enable or encourage the use of our weapons in Russia, outside Ukraine's territory."
Some of Ukraine's allies have sent weapons to Kyiv with no restrictions on strikes inside Russia, according to Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze.
U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron said that Ukraine had a right to use the weapons provided by London to strike targets inside Russia, and that it was up to Kyiv whether to do so.
A recent series of strikes against Russia's oil industry have prompted criticism from U.S. officials, who have made it clear that Washington does not support Ukraine's targeting of oil refineries, citing fears that it could threaten the global energy market.
Ukraine retorted that it considers Russian refineries to be legitimate military targets.
Chris York
