Biden open to sending Ukraine limited-supply missiles capable of striking Russia within a 190-mile range

WASHINGTON – President Biden signaled his openness Wednesday to sending Ukraine long-range missiles following the completion of a two-day summit of NATO leaders in the Baltic state of Lithuania.

Biden, 80, was asked before boarding Air Force One in Vilnius whether he was “thinking about” giving the Kyiv government US-made Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS – pronounced “attack-ems” – which are in limited supply.

“Yes, but they — they already have the equivalent of ATACMS now,” the president answered. “What we need most of all is artillery shells, and they’re in short supply. We’re working on that.”

With a range of roughly 190 miles, ATACMS are capable of striking both Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow has occupied since 2014.

On Tuesday, France pledged to send Kyiv SCALP cruise missiles, which have an approximate range of 150 miles. The United Kingdom in May sent Ukraine some of the same weapons, which the Brits call “Storm Shadow” cruise missiles.

The Pentagon has previously expressed reluctance to send Ukraine weapons that could reach Russian territory, citing the risk of widening the conflict.

But Ukraine has kept a series of pledges to Washington not to improperly use American weapons or deploy them into Russian land, which national security adviser Jake Sullivan said last week reassured US decision-makers that Kyiv will not misuse new capabilities.

American apprehension about sending Ukraine controversial weapons systems – such as cluster munitions – has eased in recent months as Kyiv mounts a counter-offensive to reclaim Russian-occupied land.

Biden said Friday that the decision to send cluster bombs was in part based on a dearth of artillery shells compatible with US-provided 155mm M777 howitzers, on which Ukraine has relied for fighting for a little more than a year.

“This is a war relating to munitions. And they’re running out of that ammunition, and we’re low on it,” Biden told CNN in an interview. “And so, what I finally did, I took the recommendation of the Defense Department to – not permanently – but to allow for this transition period, while we get more 155 weapons, these shells, for the Ukrainians.”

It’s unclear if the backlog in 155mm munitions is playing into Biden’s consideration of sending long-range weapons. ATACMS would provide a distinctly different capability due to the distances they can reach, which dwarf the M777’s range of about 15 miles.