The news that the US had already delivered the long-range ATACMS system, with a range of 300 kilometres, hit like a bombshell on Wednesday.
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US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
While Ukraine has been waiting for a decision on a giant Ukraine package in the House of Representatives for close to half a year, the Biden administration is said to have integrated the advanced weapons system into an additional grant of three billion kroner, which the Pentagon had been given the go-ahead to use in March.
Putin warned last year
Now comes new details about the delivery, and an explanation of why Biden chose not to wait until the matter had been voted on in the House of Representatives, before it was sent to a vote in Congress and the Senate, and then signed in the White House.
According to the AP news agency, the Biden administration should have warned Russia already last year. Here, Moscow must have received a clear message that if the Russians acquired and used long-range ballistic missiles from North Korea against Ukrainian targets, Washington would provide the same military capacity to Kyiv.
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Crossed the US red line
It is this red line that Russia with open eyes is said to have crossed after receiving the long-range weapons from North Korea, and then firing them at Ukrainian targets.
Thus, the Biden administration gave the green light to deliver ATACMS with a maximum range of 300 kilometers, that is, twice what Ukraine has received so far. A total of 100 ATACMS missiles are said to have already been delivered.
The condition for the deliveries is that Ukraine only uses the weapons against targets on Russian-occupied territory, and not inside Russia itself.
ATACMS is considered a very potent weapon, and can contribute to Ukraine being able to defend itself against and attack the numerous Russian occupiers.
