Congressmen renew pressure on Biden to provide Ukraine with ATACMS - Politico
Both Republicans and Democrats in Congress are putting pressure on U.S. President Joe Biden to supply Ukraine with ATACMS systems.
This is stated by Politico, reports Censor.NЕТ.
The publication notes that in the past few weeks, White House opposition to the idea of providing Ukraine with ATACMS systems has somewhat diminished. At the end of May, President Biden answered a question about the possibility of supplying the systems by saying that this option was "still in play."
Now, a group of congressmen led by Democrat Jason Crowe is turning up the pressure. On Thursday, 10 Republicans and Democrats sent a letter to Biden urging him to provide Ukraine with ATACMS.
"The war in Ukraine has turned into a struggle of attrition. We can and must help break this stalemate. By providing Ukraine with this type of weaponry, we can greatly increase their chances of victory, bring peace back to Europe, and bring greater stability and prosperity to the world," the letter reads.
Proponents of sending ATACMS say that since they fire from highly mobile artillery missile systems that have already been shipped to Ukraine, they do not require lengthy training and/or logistics chains, and can be shipped immediately.
The letter also calls on the President to approve other modern weapons, including American-made F-16 fighter jets and additional air defense equipment, such as another Patriot missile defense system. They are also urging him to speed up the delivery of American M1 Abrams tanks, which are expected to arrive in Ukraine by the end of the year.
U.S. officials have become less concerned that sending more advanced weapons could escalate the conflict, as Ukraine has repeatedly proven that it will not use U.S. equipment to strike Russian territory, Crowe said.
Він визнав, що небажання надсилати ATACMS більше пов'язане з побоюваннями Пентагону, що США мають обмежену кількість ракет на своїх складах. Але контраргумент Кроу полягає в тому, що варто піти на короткостроковий ризик і відправити ATACMS, щоб допомогти Україні виграти війну. За його словами, довгостроковий план Пентагону полягає в тому, щоб у будь-якому випадку відмовитися від ATACMS і перейти на більш досконалі ракети, які перебувають в стадії розробки.
