U.S. ‘Already Working’ On Lifting Restrictions For Ukraine, Biden Says, As Blinken Arrives In Kyiv For Talks
U.S. President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he was “working” on the possibility of authorizing Ukraine to use long-range, American missiles against Russia, after Western powers said Iran was delivering missiles to Moscow, TURAN’s Washington correspondent reports.
“We’re working that out right now,” Biden told reporters outside the White House.
The move came against the backdrop of ongoing discussions in Washington to provide Ukraine with more powerful means of defense against Russian aggression.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, accompanied by British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, are currently headed to Kyiv to further discuss Western support to Ukraine. They are poised to hold a joint press conference along with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha in Kyiv today at 7:30 p.m, local time.
Hours earlier, the Biden administration, along with the governments of Britain, France and Germany, announced new sanctions on Tehran, including measures against Iran Air — the Islamic republic’s main commercial airline — and other people and entities with ties to the missile supply.
Tehran and Moscow signed a contract for the supply of “hundreds” of missiles in late 2023, according to the White House. Russian military personnel trained on the use of the missiles in the summer and Moscow received the first shipment earlier this month, National Security Council’s John Kerby told reporters during a Tuesday call.
According to Kirby, Iran provided Russia with close-range Fatah missiles, which have a range of 75 miles, and that Mowcos is expected to employ those missiles against Ukraine “within weeks”, which will “lead to the deaths of even more Ukrainian civilians, particularly because of the way they use ballistic missiles against civilian infrastructure,” as he put it.