President Volodymyr Zelensky insisted on Sept. 12 that restrictions on the use of Western long-range weapons to strike deep inside Russia should be lifted without any distance limits.
Zelensky's statement comes amid reports that the U.S. and the U.K. might soon shift the policy, allowing Ukraine to strike on Russian territory with their long-range weapons.
According to Zelensky, the delays in the decision have already prompted Russia to move its military targets deeper into Russian territory.
If the West plans to lift the restrictions only for a range that Russia has already adapted to, then "this is a purely political decision to relieve pressure coming from allies, Ukraine, and journalists on the countries that have to make this decision," Zelensky said at a press conference with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda.
"If restrictions are lifted on a weapon for which (Ukraine doesn't have) missiles, this is not lifting restrictions."
Zelensky added that he wants to see allies making the move to allow long-range strikes with Western weapons "as a strategy for Ukraine's victory, not a political strategy."
Earlier on Sept. 11, Zelensky met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy in Kyiv.
Zelensky said he had given them a very "direct and detailed" vision of what kind of lifting of restrictions on long-range strikes Ukraine needs. Ukraine's delegation was "well prepared" and "convincing," according to the president.
Ukraine has received shipments of long-range U.S.-made ATACMS and U.K.-made Storm Shadow missiles, but the two countries have not permitted their use inside Russian territory so far.
While the Western countries eased restrictions on the use of certain arms just across the border after a Russian offensive in Kharkiv Oblast in May, limits on long-range strikes deep inside Russia remained in place.
Multiple Western outlets, such as Politico and the Guardian, recently wrote that this position may be shifting as U.S. and U.K. officials are preparing plans to ease the restrictions further.
Chris York
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