US outlines stance on Ukraine strike on Russia — RT Russia and the former Soviet Union
The latest aid package to kyiv does not mean Washington supports airstrikes deep inside Russia, NSC spokesman John Kirby said.
The United States does not explicitly encourage Ukraine to strike targets deep within Russia, United States National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told ABC’s Martha Raddatz on Sunday. His statement runs counter to an unnamed Pentagon source, who reportedly told The Times on Friday that kyiv had in fact been given the green light to launch long-range strikes.
Asked by ABC anchor if he thinks Ukrainian drones should strike”airfields in the heart of Russia“, Kirby first said he would”let the Ukrainian Armed Forces speak for their operations.”
He then clarified that “We certainly do not encourage or allow Ukrainian operations inside Russia. We are trying to ensure that they can defend their territory, regain their ground in Ukraine.”
“From the beginning, Martha, we talked about monitoring and being aware of the risks of escalating this war, because not only is it not good for the Ukrainian people, it is not good for our interests and is not good for the Russian people“, concluded Kirby.
The official previously referred to Washington’s latest $275 million military aid package to Ukraine, which includes missiles for the HIMARS system, artillery shells, air defense components and other armaments . Announced on Friday, the package brings the total amount of military aid provided by the Biden administration to Ukraine to around $20 billion, including $19.3 billion since the start of the Russian military operation in February.
Following an attack by Ukraine earlier this month on two Russian airbases hundreds of miles from the Ukrainian border, Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted that the United States had “neither encouraged nor allowed Ukrainians to strike inside Russia.”
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However, Friday’s Times report suggested that if “Washington does not want to be seen publicly giving the green lightto its Eastern European ally, the Pentagon is not telling the Ukrainians not to strike the Russians on their own territory, but simply insisting that they respect international law and the Geneva Convention – rules that ‘a growing body of evidence suggests they have already breached it.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova previously warned the United States that supplying Kiev with long-range weapons to attack Russia would cross a “Red line“and potentially make Washington”a direct party to the conflict.”
RT
