US says deep strikes in Russia no game-changer after Zelenskiy plea

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By Phil Stewart and Sabine Siebold

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin cautioned on Friday there was “no one capability” that would turn the war in Ukraine in Kyiv’s favour after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged the West to let his forces use its long-range weapons to strike Russia.

At a regular meeting of Ukraine’s allies at Ramstein U.S. Air Base in Germany, Zelenskiy repeated his plea for Western nations to supply more long-range missiles and lift restrictions on using them to hit targets such as airfields inside Russia.

Austin said Washington and its allies would continue to give strong support to Ukraine in fighting Russia’s invasion, announcing another $250 million in U.S. security assistance.

But, questioned by reporters, the Pentagon chief pushed back on the idea that allowing deep strikes inside Russia with Western weapons would be a game-changer.

He said Russia had already moved aircraft that launch glide bombs into Ukraine beyond the range of U.S.-supplied ATACM missiles.

“There’s no one capability that will in and of itself be decisive in this campaign,” Austin told reporters at the end of the meeting.

He also said Ukraine had capabilities of its own – such as drones – to hit targets inside Russia that were beyond the reach of ATACM and British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.

“There are a lot of targets in Russia – big country, obviously,” Austin said. “And there’s a lot of capability that Ukraine has in terms of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) and other things to address those targets.”

Among other donations, Germany pledged to supply an additional 12 self-propelled howitzers to Kyiv, while Canada said it planned to send 80,840 surplus small unarmed air-to-surface rockets as well as 1,300 warheads in the coming months.

Zelenskiy made his first appearance at a Ramstein meeting at an important moment in the 2-1/2-year-old war.

Ukrainian forces have made a surprise offensive into Russia’s Kursk region even as Russian forces focus on seizing the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, a logistics hub for Kyiv’s war effort.

“We need to have this long-range capability not only on the occupied territory of Ukraine, but also on Russian territory, yes, so that Russia is motivated to seek peace,” Zelenskiy said, in remarks that drew support from countries including Baltic nations Lithuania and Estonia.

‘RED LINES’

Zelenskiy has long pushed back against allies who have supplied long-range weapons but told Kyiv they cannot use them deep inside Russia for fear of instigating a direct conflict between the West and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.

In his remarks on Friday at Ramstein, Zelenskiy said: “Russia’s attempts to draw red lines simply do not work.”

The talks in Germany came as Americans prepare for a November presidential election that could have major implications for Ukraine. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, has promised to stand with Ukraine.

Former President Donald Trump, the Republican candidate, has vowed to resolve the Ukraine war immediately on taking office with possible peace talks that might require Kyiv to cede territory. Trump and many of his supporters are skeptical of the billions of dollars in aid Biden’s administration has poured into Ukraine’s war effort.

At Ramstein, Austin gave statistics on the toll the war has taken on Russian forces, estimating more than 350,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded. He said Ukrainian forces have sunk, destroyed, or damaged 32 Russian Navy vessels and pushed Russia’s Black Sea Fleet further east.

Zelenskiy said that about 6,000 Russian soldiers had been killed or wounded in Ukraine’s Kursk offensive.

“Today we control an area of more than 1,300 square kilometres in the Kursk region and this includes 100 settlements,” Zelenskiy said, adding that a large part of that territory was abandoned by Russian troops.

But Moscow has also been pounding cities across Ukraine with missiles and drones in some of its largest attacks since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022,

“The number of air defence systems that have not yet been delivered is significant,” Zelenskiy said.