Biden Faces Pressure to Lift Ban on Ukraine's Use of Long-Range Weapons

President Biden is facing mounting pressure from both sides of the aisle to lift the ban on Ukraine's use of U.S.-provided weapons to strike deep inside Russia. The move is seen as a potential way to tip the balance in Ukraine's favor, but it also carries risks of escalation and potential depletion of U.S. weapons supplies.

President Biden is facing mounting pressure from both sides of the aisle to lift the ban on Ukraine's use of U.S.-provided weapons to strike deep inside Russia. The move is seen as a potential way to tip the balance in Ukraine's favor, but it also carries risks of escalation and potential depletion of U.S. weapons supplies.

A group of high-level House Republicans wrote to the president this week arguing that such restrictions "have hampered Ukraine’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." The letter was signed by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul, House Intelligence Committee Chair Michael Turner, House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers and other committee leaders.

Biden Faces Pressure to Lift Ban on Ukraine's Use of Long-Range Weapons

On Wednesday, a group of liberal and progressive former high-level national security officials authored a letter calling on the U.S. and U.K. to allow unrestricted use of their weapons to strike Russian territory. The letter was signed by former Obama administration national security adviser Susan Rice, former Clinton administration Secretary of Defense William Cohen, and former Bush administration National Security Council senior director for Russia Charles Kupchan, among others.

A bipartisan group of House and Senate members sent another letter arguing that with the ban, Russia "is far too comfortable in its ability to focus on its offensive operations rather than defending itself." The letter was signed by House Armed Services Committee member Mike Waltz, Senate Armed Services Committee member Chris Coon, and House Foreign Affairs Committee member Andy Kim, among others.

Biden Faces Pressure to Lift Ban on Ukraine's Use of Long-Range Weapons

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has implored U.S. officials to lift the ban, arguing that it is essential for Ukraine to be able to defend itself effectively. Washington has in recent months partially lifted the ban, allowing Ukraine to use U.S. weapons for defensive strikes "within sovereign Ukraine territory."

However, the Biden administration has so far resisted calls to lift the ban completely, citing concerns about escalation and potential depletion of U.S. weapons supplies. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said last week that "there’s no one capability that will, in and of itself, be decisive in this campaign."

Biden Faces Pressure to Lift Ban on Ukraine's Use of Long-Range Weapons

The debate about whether to remove the restrictions comes amid the worrying beginning of transfers of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia. Some worry that the U.S. has a limited number of ATACMS to offer Ukraine without affecting U.S. readiness and that using the weapons to strike deep into Russia could deplete their supply for other parts of the military campaign, like inside Crimea. But advocates of lifting the ban argue that Ukraine is already using ATACMS on territory that Russia sees as its own in Crimea.

The Biden administration is expected to make a decision on the matter in the coming weeks. The outcome will have significant implications for the course of the war in Ukraine and for U.S.-Russia relations.

Biden Faces Pressure to Lift Ban on Ukraine's Use of Long-Range Weapons