Republicans press Biden on Ukraine weapons restrictions

Top House Republicans this week called on President Biden to reverse a policy that prevents Ukraine from using American-made weapons to strike deep inside of Russia, arguing the restrictions have hampered Kyiv’s “ability to defeat Russia’s war of aggression and have given the Kremlin’s forces a sanctuary from which it can attack Ukraine with impunity.”

In the Monday letter, the Republicans leading top committees in the House said the U.S. must allow Ukraine to use Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to hit targets deep inside of Russia.

“As long as it is conducting its brutal, full-scale war of aggression, Russia must not be given a
sanctuary from which it can execute its war crimes against Ukraine with impunity,” they wrote. “The Biden-Harris administration’s senseless restrictions, combined with the longstanding slow-rolling of critical weapons approvals and deliveries, are hindering Ukraine’s ability to bring this war to a victorious conclusion.”

“It is far past time the administration reverses course and lifts the remaining restrictions on Ukraine’s use of U.S.-provided weapons against legitimate military targets in Russia.”

The letter was signed by GOP Reps. Mike Rogers (Ala.), chair of the House Armed Services Committee; Michael McCaul (Texas), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; and Mike Turner (Ohio), chair of House Intelligence Committee.

Also signing on were Republican Reps. Ken Calvert (Calif.), chair of the defense subcommittee on the House Appropriations Committee; Thomas Kean (N.J.), who chairs the European subcommittee under Foreign Affairs; and Richard Hudson (N.C.), who chairs the Helsinki Commission focused on security in Europe.

The letter adds more pressure on the Biden administration, which has refused to budge on the long-range strikes policy despite intense efforts from both Ukrainian and U.S. officials in recent weeks.

The push to reverse the policy increased dramatically after Ukraine invaded Russia’s Kursk region in early August, which crossed what had previously been a major red line for Moscow. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has pushed the U.S. and Western allies almost daily, and he made a highly public plea on the issue last week during a meeting with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group attended by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in Germany.

Still, the Biden administration has throughout the war hesitated to escalate tensions with the nuclear-armed Russia, and only incrementally sent more powerful weapons or reversed policies meant to contain the war.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a press conference in London this week the U.S. must “factor in a number of critical elements” when deciding what weapons to give Ukraine, assessing questions like whether the Ukrainians can effectively use the system and whether they can maintain and use it in a workable strategy.

“All I can tell you is we’ll be listening intently to our Ukrainian partners,” he said. “We’re going to look and to listen and to make sure that we have our own best assessment of what’s needed, what the objectives are that our Ukrainian partners have in the weeks and months ahead, and how we can best support them.”

Blinken is in Ukraine to meet Wednesday with Ukrainian officials, with whom he’s expected to discuss the weapons restrictions.

But critics say there are no red lines for the Kremlin that Kyiv can cross after Russian forces have deployed everything short of nuclear weapons across the 600-mile front in eastern Ukraine.

Pressure has worked in the past. After Russia invaded Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region in May, the Biden administration allowed Ukrainian forces to use American weapons to strike over the border to prevent cross-border attacks. But that policy still prevents deep strikes into Russia, since Ukraine can only hit into border regions or areas related to cross-border attacks.

Democrats have also piled on the pressure. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a Wednesday statement that “the time has come to ease restrictions on Ukrainian’s use of U.S.-provided weapons.”

“Greater flexibility to target Russian military assets will degrade Moscow’s ability to harm the Ukrainian people. The United States must act swiftly to grant these permissions,” he said.

Rep. Bill Keating (D-Mass.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, also sent a letter to the White House this week calling for Biden to reverse the policy.

The U.S. has reportedly not only restricted American weapons from being used to hit deep inside of Russia, but also British and French weapons. Republicans in the Monday letter criticized Biden for also holding back his allies.

Ukraine has deployed its own long-range drones to strike targets deep inside of Russia, including airbases and oil depots, but those systems are much more limited than ATACMS.

Using American and other Western weapons could help Ukraine target Russian airbases before planes can take off and drop devastating glide bombs, or munitions that are retrofitted with a guidance system.

The glide bombs have been extremely difficult for Ukraine to stop and have been used to destructive effect on the battlefield, allowing Russia to advance into eastern Ukraine, particularly in the Donetsk region where Ukrainian troops are on the defensive.

In the Monday letter, the GOP chairs refuted a talking point the Biden administration has made: that Russia has moved many of its glide bomb aircraft out of range of U.S. weapons, arguing there were likely 200 targets within range.

And they argued that “concerns about escalation have been consistently invalidated” throughout the war.

“Recent reports that the real reason your administration opposes lifting these restrictions is not to endanger a future reset with Russia are extremely alarming,” they wrote. “This conflict will end only when tougher sanctions and Ukraine’s battlefield successes convince Vladimir Putin that he has nothing left to gain through war and must come to the negotiating table.”