Zelensky urges West to let Ukraine hit Russia with long-range weapons
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Aug. 31 called on the U.S., the U.K., France, and Germany to allow Ukraine to use long-range weapons to strike targets in Russia.
“I appeal to the U.S., the U.K., France and Germany. We need the ability to genuinely and fully defend Ukraine and Ukrainians. We require both: permissions for long-range capabilities and your long-range shells and missiles,” Zelensky said in his evening address.
"Vital decisions — exactly the ones that can influence events in the right way — cannot be postponed."
Kyiv has long argued that restrictions on the use of long-range weapons are stifling its war effort, while Washington claimed that allowing Ukraine to hit deep into Russian territory with its weapons could escalate the conflict.
Ukraine has dismissed these arguments and has ramped up pressure to lift the ban in recent weeks amid the ongoing incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast. The White House has not budged on its position, despite some U.S. politicians backing Kyiv’s demands.
During a visit to Washington, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on Aug. 30 he had presented to U.S. officials a list of targets in Russia that Kyiv wanted to hit with American-supplied ATACMS long-range missiles.
Zelensky said that Ukrainian soldiers continue "pushing the war" into Russia's territory and taking Russian prisoners of war.
As Russian forces concentrate more of their recourses in Donetsk Oblast, fighting near Pokrovsk is becoming "exceptionally brutal," Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Aug. 29.
Western countries have largely allowed Ukraine to use their arms in the incursion, but the U.S. and the U.K. have maintained their restrictions on the use of long-range missiles like ATACMS or Storm Shadow.
Nate Ostiller
