US spies want to keep missile restrictions on Ukraine – Fox

Allowing Kiev to use ATACMS for long-range strikes on Russia would achieve little and would risk escalation, an unnamed official has told the outlet

The Pentagon and US Intelligence Committee (IC) have both advised Washington against allowing Ukraine to use American-supplied weapons to strike deeper into Russian territory, Fox News reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed official.

According to analysis cited by Fox, giving the green light for Kiev to use US-supplied ATACMS missiles would have no strategic impact, while risking further escalation between Washington and Moscow. 

The Kremlin has already said it would consider such strikes to be a joint US-Ukrainian attack on Russia. President Vladimir Putin stated that Kiev would be unable to carry out such attacks on its own because it would rely on targeting data provided by NATO.

On Wednesday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin claimed that Russia had moved its aircraft to bases beyond the 300km range of ATACMS, meaning that lifting restrictions on their use would have minimal effect.

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Pentagon explains refusal to change missile rules for Ukraine

The unnamed US official told Fox News that allowing Ukraine to use American missiles for long-range strikes would be reckless, given Russia’s position.

“It would be irresponsible if we didn’t take into account what Russia would do,” the official told the news channel, adding that Russia is a “nuclear power capable of doing very bad things both to Ukraine and to the US.”

The IC has also advised that Moscow would likely move its military assets out of range if Ukraine is allowed full use of ATACMS, the official said. Additionally, Ukrainian stocks of the missiles are running low, and the Pentagon’s own stockpiles cannot be sent without damaging US military readiness, Fox reported.

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has placed the lifting of Western restrictions on the use of long-range weapons against Russia as among the top points on his recently-unveiled ‘victory plan’.

READ MORE: Threatening Russia only emboldens us – Putin

Earlier this year, Putin ordered for Russia’s nuclear doctrine to be updated “to regard an aggression against Russia from any non-nuclear state but involving or supported by any nuclear states as their joint attack against the Russian Federation.” Any such attack would be considered potential grounds for the use of nuclear weapons.