Defense Minister meets US lawmakers, lobbies for long-rage weapons permissions
Defense Minsiter Rustem Umerov met with a bipartisan delegation from the United States House of Representatives during their visit to Kyiv on Aug. 21, the Defense Ministry announced.
Republican Rep. Rob Wittman and Democratic Rep. David Trone spoke with Umerov about the situation on Ukraine's front lines and Washington's policy on Ukraine's use of long-range weapons against Russian targets.
"I emphasized the need to obtain prompt permission from our allies to fully use long-range weapons against targets in Russia," Umerov said.
"This is a matter of protecting our peaceful cities and villages."
Current U.S. policy restricts Ukraine from using ATACMS and other American-supplied weapons to strike targets deep within Russia.
The U.S. gave Ukraine permission on June 1 to use some American-supplied weapons, including HIMARS rockets, to strike targets in Russia located near the border with Kharkiv Oblast after Russia launched a renewed offensive in the region on May 10.
The lawmakers were also briefed on the situation near Ukraine's front lines, particularly the embattled Sumy Oblast, Umerov said.
"Our goals there are to clear the border from Russian military threats and to prevent enemy shelling and attacks on our cities and villages," he said.
Isaac C. Flanagan
