US will not send Ukraine rocket systems that can reach Russia, Biden says
WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — President Joe Biden said Monday the United States would not send Ukraine rockets that can reach into Russia.
The comments followed reports that the Biden administration was preparing to send advanced long-range rocket systems to Kyiv for its fight against Russia. Kyiv has called on the West to provide longer-range weapons to turn the tide in the war.
Biden told reporters outside the White House that “we are not going to send to Ukraine rocket systems that can strike into Russia.”
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, said that it was a “reasonable” decision.
He said that “otherwise, if our cities come under attack, the Russian armed forces would fulfill (their) threat and strike the centers where such criminal decisions are made.”
Medvedev added that “some of them aren’t in Kyiv.” And he said that “there is no need for a further explanation.”
Ukrainian officials have sought a longer-range system called the Multiple Launch Rocket System, or MLRS, that can fire a barrage of rockets hundreds of miles away.
CNN and The Washington Post reported on Friday the Biden administration was leaning towards sending that and another system, the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, known as HIMARS, as part of a larger military aid package to Ukraine.
It was not clear which system Biden was referring to in his remarks.
Thousands of people have been killed in Ukraine and millions more displaced since the Russian invasion on Feb. 24.
Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.