The US is “close” to approving the sale of long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine, despite repeated warnings from Moscow. The weapons, including the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), can be integrated into US-designed F-16 fighter jets.
According to Reuters, the inclusion of JASSM in the new arms package for Kiev is expected to be made public this fall. However, sources noted that discussions on the missile are still ongoing and a final decision has not been made. The actual delivery of the weapons could take “several months,” as the US administration will need to iron out the technical details of the move.
Developed by Lockheed Martin, the JASSM could allow Kiev’s military to strike targets as far as 300km from the Russian border, or up to 500km for some longer-range, proprietary versions. There are also efforts to make the missile compatible with non-Western fighters in Ukraine’s current arsenal, as the country has so far only received its first batch of F-16s, one source said.
Providing JASSMs to Ukraine is considered a sensitive issue, one of the sources said, as it would put further pressure on Washington to ease restrictions on Kiev’s use of its weapons. While Ukraine has received approval from several Western countries to strike “legitimate” targets in Russia with its weapons, the US has so far only allowed the use of US weapons against cross-border attacks, not for “deep strikes” into Russian territory.
For months, Kiev has been asking the West to expand the range of Ukrainian strikes and to allow Western weapons to be used to strike targets deep inside Russia.
Moscow has long warned the West not to allow Kiev to attack Russian territory, which it sees as an escalation of hostilities. Russia has also threatened to supply similar military equipment to the West’s enemies in retaliation if the warnings are not heeded.
Commenting on Kiev's wish list of Russian targets, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said the US "will not be able to sit idly across the ocean" if restrictions on Ukraine's use of its missiles are lifted, and that all Western-supplied equipment will inevitably be destroyed.
KHANH MINH
Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/my-sap-cung-cap-ten-lua-tam-xa-cho-ukraine-post757070.html
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