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Biden administration is quietly debating whether to send Ukraine ATACMS missiles

12 July 2023 13:12 (UTC +04:00)

Britain sent long-range “Storm Shadow” cruise missiles to Ukraine in May. And France pledged a shipment of the same missiles, which it calls SCALPs, as NATO leaders gathered in Lithuania on Tuesday, APA reports citing The New York Times.

But for now at least, the United States is still hesitant to send Ukraine any of its limited stock of long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems — known as ATACMS, or “attack ’ems” — even as the Biden administration acknowledges that Kyiv’s forces are running dangerously low on other munitions in its counteroffensive against Russia.

Ukraine has long coveted the ATACMS, which have a range of about 190 miles, or about 40 miles more than the missiles France and Britain are providing.

The Pentagon has maintained that Ukraine currently does not need ATACMS, which would be able to reach behind enemy lines, including in Russia and occupied Crimea.

But two American officials and one European official described a quiet debate within the Biden administration over whether to send even a few of the surface-to-surface guided missiles, which are being reserved for other security threats. The officials spoke on the condition on anonymity to discuss an internal administration debate.