US to Send Ukraine Advanced Rockets; Kyiv Promises Not to Fire Into Russia – By Tara Copp & Jacqueline Feldscher (Defense One) / May 31, 2022
The fourth large arms package announced by the administration includes HIMARS for defensive use only, as Biden eyes “negotiating table.”
The United States plans to send Ukraine advanced long-range artillery that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had requested for weeks, but Biden administration officials said would only be armed with limited-range munitions and would not be used to strike targets inside of Russia.
White House officials on Tuesday announced that the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, would be part of new $700 million arms package for Ukraine, which has received increasingly more advanced and lethal weapons to fight Russia’s invasion.
“At this time, we’ve decided not to provide the longer range of munitions,” a senior administration official said.
On Monday, President Joe Biden told reporters that his administration will “not…send to Ukraine rocket systems that can strike into Russia,” according to a White House pool report.
