The Pentagon and the State Department reportedly disagree on the issue<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vladimir Zelensky is expected to bring up the issue of restrictions on long-range attacks into Russian territory when he meets with US President Joe Biden later this week, White House national security spokesman John Kirby has said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine\u2019s leader is scheduled to meet with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday, after giving a speech at the UN General Assembly in New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure the issue will come up,\u201d Kirby told reporters on Tuesday, speaking on the sidelines of the UN session, adding that Biden \u201chas not made a policy change\u201d and is \u201cstill in the same place\u201d on the issue of missiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kiev has been demanding that the US and its allies lift all restrictions on the use of the weapons they have provided Ukraine, such as long-range ATACMS missiles, in order to strike deep inside Russia. The West has pointed to the limitations to argue that it is not directly involved in the conflict, while arming and supplying Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine has expected the US to have given the permission by now, two Kiev officials told the Washington Post on Tuesday. According to the Post, the current US administration is divided on the issue, with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin opposed to changing the policy and Secretary of State Antony Blinken siding with Kiev.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the Post, Ukraine has already used US weapons in Russia\u2019s Kursk Region \u201cin ways that stretch the previous rules of engagement,\u201d but the US military believes that when it comes to ATACMS, the purported benefits \u201care not compelling enough to outweigh the drawbacks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The outlet also revealed that Kiev \u201chas long been dependent\u201d on receiving target coordinates for US-provided weapons \u201cfrom US military personnel on a base elsewhere in Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n