New Intrigue Involving ATACMS

What message did the US send to Russia?

The bill passed by Congress recommends this to the US President, but does not oblige him to do so. We know the position of the Biden administration that the United States does not support Ukrainian attacks on targets on Russian territory (internationally recognized). And it seems that the Republican congressmen were setting up a certain political trap for Biden with the issue of ATACMS, in order to accuse him of indecision and inconsistency on occasion.

But on April 22, during a telephone conversation between Presidents Biden and Zelensky, this problem was, at least partially, resolved, and apparently at the Ukrainian initiative. President Zelensky said that “today’s result is that all the dots have been completed in the agreements on ATACMS for Ukraine.” And he thanked President Biden. As I understand it, ATACMS missiles will still be included in the upcoming American military aid packages for Ukraine. Another thing is which ATACMS, in what quantity, and whether there will be a restriction on their use on Russian territory. However, at the moment, something else is important — the issue of providing Ukraine with long-range ATACMS missiles is also a warning from the Americans to Russia. If Russia begins a new wave of escalating war against Ukraine, then Western long-range weapons will be provided to Ukraine. It is likely that in the event of a Russian military escalation, restrictions on the use of these weapons at facilities on the territory of the Russian Federation will be lifted.

If the United States provides ATACMS missiles to Ukraine, then another intrigue arises — regarding the future position of Chancellor Scholz on the German Taurus long-range missiles. I hope that there will be positive developments on this issue as well. By the way, the new large package of military aid for Ukraine from the UK also includes additional long-range Storm Shadow missiles, which have already proven themselves very well in military operations against the Russian aggressor.

Volodymyr Fesenko, Facebook