The United States does not object to the use of American weapons by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) to strike at Crimea, since this territory is “internationally recognized” as part of the republic. This was stated by National Security Advisor to the US President Jake Sullivan on CNN.
Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor to the US PresidentThe politician stressed that Washington does not support strikes deep into Russia using weapons transferred to Kyiv by NATO. Earlier it became known that the head of the British Ministry of Defense, Ben Wallace, evaded answering the question of whether London had given Ukraine permission to use Storm Shadow missiles for strikes in Crimea, and also established a requirement to use them exclusively within Ukrainian territory. Related materials: “The United States feels at home in Ukraine” Why did Joe Biden secretly come to Kiev and how will this change the situation on the battlefield? February 22, 2023 “The red lines have already been passed” Why, despite problems in the economy, Germany sends Ukraine more and more weapons?March 24, 2023
Allegations of attacks on Russian territory
On April 5, White House strategic communications coordinator John Kirby said that the United States allows Kiev to strike at new regions of Russia, but does not help Ukraine in conducting military operations outside its territory. On April 18, Pentagon Deputy Secretary for Political Affairs Colin Kahl said that the United States had expressed concern that the Ukrainian Armed Forces could use American-supplied weapons to attack Russia. In January, the British newspaper The Times, citing a source in the Pentagon, wrote that the United States no longer insists that the Armed Forces of Ukraine not strike at Russian territory. According to the interlocutor of the publication, the United States cannot tell Ukraine how to use the weapons transferred to it. Prior to this, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said that Kyiv had pledged to the United States not to carry out such attacks. In February, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister also promised that if Western fighter jets and long-range weapons were received, Kyiv would not use them to launch strikes on Russian territory.In turn, State Duma deputy and head of the Russian delegation at international negotiations in Vienna, Konstantin Gavrilov, emphasized that Moscow is ready for a tough response to arms supplies to Ukraine from the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance. Related materials: New details about leaked secret Pentagon documents. Will this leak affect the course of the conflict in Ukraine? April 12, 2023 Russia-US relations are deteriorating rapidly. Will the world be able to avoid a new arms race and nuclear war? April 14, 2023
Zelensky promised not to use the F-16 to advance into Russia
US President Joe Biden, at a press conference following the G7 summit and a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, said that the Ukrainian leader promised not to use F-16 fighters to advance into Russia if they were delivered. Joe BidenUS PresidentThe head of the White House also said that modern Western aircraft will not be involved in the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, assuming that it starts “tomorrow or in a week, two, five, seven or ten”, but in the long term, aircraft will be able to strike at Russian headquarters, which are currently out of reach. Dmitry Novikov, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, said that the promise of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky not to use American F-16 fighter jets for attacks on Russian territory is a smokescreen. On May 20, the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, Mikhail Podolyak, announced that Western countries had made a positive decision to transfer F-16 fighters. According to him, now the allies are solving logistical issues.