The State Department revealed on Wednesday that the US had secretly deployed long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine as part of the March assistance package, fulfilling Kyiv’s long-standing request.
“We did not announce this from the beginning in order to maintain operational security for Ukraine at their request,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters, adding that the “missiles arrived in Ukraine this month.”
Some Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles can attack targets up to 300 kilometers away, and a Defense Department spokeswoman confirmed that Ukraine received the long-range type.
Last year, the White House announced that the United States had supplied a shorter-range variant of ATACMS capable of reaching 165 kilometers.
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the US intends to provide more long-range missiles to Ukraine, but warned that “there is no silver bullet.”
The legislation signed by Biden on Wednesday came after months of heated debate among lawmakers about how, if at all, to assist Ukraine in defending itself against Russia’s invasion, which began in February 2022. A similar bill passed the Senate in February.
However, it stagnated in the House of Representatives when Republican Speaker Mike Johnson wanted concessions from Biden on immigration policies, heeding requests from former President Donald Trump and his hard-line allies, before Johnson abruptly reversed course.
Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion, the United States has been a crucial military ally of Ukraine, providing tens of billions of dollars in security aid.
However, a feuding Congress had not approved significant funds for Kyiv in over a year and a half.
Ukraine’s military is experiencing a chronic shortage of arms and recruits as Moscow applies relentless pressure from the east, and Sullivan stated on Wednesday that it is “certainly possible that Russia could make additional tactical gains in the coming weeks.”
The law signed by Biden also includes much-needed humanitarian assistance for Sudan, Haiti, and Gaza, with the president urging Israel to enable supplies to reach Palestinians in the war-torn coastal enclave as soon as possible.
“We’re going to immediately secure that aid and surge it… including food, medical supplies, clean water,” Vice President Joe Biden stated. “Israel must make sure all this aid reaches the Palestinians in Gaza without delay.”
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