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Restrictions on US weapons prevent Kiev from hitting key Russian airfields — WaPo

Ukrainian officials told the newspaper that the United States has restricted the range to less than 100 kilometers from the border

WASHINGTON, June 22. /TASS/. The restrictions imposed by the United States on the use of US-supplied weapons allegedly prevent Ukraine from hitting a number of key Russian airfields, The Washington Post (WaPo) reported on Friday, citing its sources.

Ukrainian officials told the US newspaper that the United States has restricted the range to less than 100 kilometers from the border. While US officials declined to specify the limitation, they described the Ukrainians’ assertion of less than 100 kilometers as incorrect, WaPo wrote.

Meanwhile, key airfields that cannot be attacked by American weapons "give Russia a major advantage," the newspaper said.

"The US has agreed to allow Ukraine to fire US-provided weapons into Russia across where Russian forces are coming to attempt to take Ukrainian territory," a Pentagon spokesman, Major Charlie Dietz, claimed. "This is not about geography or a certain radius, but if Russia is attacking or about to attack from its territory into Ukraine, Ukraine has the ability to hit back against the forces that are hitting it from across the border," he continued.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed on May 31 that US President Joe Biden had authorized the use of American weapons for attacks on Russian territory. According to the top US diplomat, they can only be used to attack Russian regions near Kharkov. Blinken didn’t rule out the possibility of expanding the range in the future.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on May 28 that the selection of targets and flight assignments for modern strike systems are made remotely or automatically, "without the presence of Ukrainian servicemen." This is done by those who produce and supply these systems to Ukraine, he pointed out. Putin warned that NATO countries should "realize what they are playing with." Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev emphasized on May 31 that all long-range weapons delivered to Ukraine are already "directly controlled by NATO servicemen" and that such actions could be a pretext for retaliatory strikes.