US should not limit Ukraine’s strikes - Russian airfields are legitimate targets, Hodges
The United States will have more grounds to lift restrictions on strikes on Russian territory when the Ukrainian authorities provide Washington with their plans.
According to Censor.NET, this was stated on the air of Radio Liberty (Svoboda.Ranok project) by former US Army Commander in Europe Ben Hodges.
He says that the current restrictions on Ukraine's ability to use, in particular, 300-kilometre ATACMS to strike Russian military targets are evidence that the United States currently has no vision of what such strikes could change.
"First of all, I think it's a terrible policy of the United States to impose restrictions on Ukraine's ability to use weapons that we have already provided to Ukraine, such as the 300-kilometre ATACMS. I think this policy is a result of the fact that the administration is not yet ready to commit to helping Ukraine win. We don't have a clear vision of the outcome from the US perspective. And because of this, we continue to pursue bad policies. I hope that this will change. Of course, Ukraine has the right to defend itself. And so strikes on the airfields from which Russian attacks are carried out, whether missiles, drones or aircraft dropping guided bombs, are legitimate targets. And we should not restrict Ukraine from striking those targets," Hodges said.
According to the military officer, the new White House administration will be more decisive in supporting Ukraine. He added that if Kamala Harris comes to the White House after the November elections, she will continue to support Ukraine, just as the Biden administration is doing now. However, if Donald Trump takes the White House, Hodges assures that it is difficult to make predictions.
"I'm more confident that if it's a Harris administration, that President Harris will at least continue the US support that the Biden administration has provided, I expect her to be more decisive on this issue. But this will not happen the day after she takes office. This will be one of the many issues that will have to be addressed at the beginning of the job. But I think she will be better prepared. As for the Trump administration, I don't know. He is very unpredictable. He is very situational. He doesn't make decisions based on principles. So I think, yes, I can't predict what the Trump administration will do," Hodges added.
