Ukraine makes its own decisions on non-US weapons

In recent weeks, Ukraine has stepped up calls for the Biden administration to lift a ban on using U.S.-supplied weapons to strike targets in Russia.

The White House said it “neither encourages nor permits” strikes on Russian territory with U.S. weapons. At the same time, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that “ultimately, Ukraine must decide for itself how it is going to fight this war.”

For more on how the U.S. government views its role in arming Ukraine and why officials insist that U.S. weapons not be used to strike targets in Russia, the Ukrainian Service of VOA spoke with State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.

Miller discussed why the United States will continue to provide Kiev with everything it needs to defend itself, as well as how he sees NATO-Ukraine relations evolving in the coming months.

The following transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.

VOA: During his recent visit to Ukraine, US Secretary of State Blinken told Kiev that US aid would make the difference against the Russian offensive. He also declared his vision of Ukraine's victory. After 2 and a half years of war, what is this strategy?

Matthew Miller, State Department spokesperson: We continue to believe that Ukraine can and will win this conflict. We saw the Ukrainian army pushing back Russian forces from the outskirts of kyiv. We have seen them recover more than half of the territory initially occupied by Russia. And we see them continue to fight with courage. We also see Ukraine rebuilding its economy so it can stand on its own two feet. And one focus of Blinken's visit was about everything Ukraine needs to do to succeed diplomatically, militarily and economically.

VOA: Secretary Blinken recently declared that Ukraine would be a member of NATO. How many steps will Ukraine move closer to NATO after the Washington summit compared to the Vilnius summit?

Miller: I will say that on behalf of the United States, we have been very clear that the future of Ukraine is within NATO and other NATO member states have made it clear that the future of Ukraine was in NATO.

And what the secretary wanted to convey to the Ukrainian people when we were in kyiv is that we do see a bridge from here to there, and we think that bridge should be well lit. The path forward for the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian government must be clear about the steps to be taken.

But I would say it's also important to step back and clarify that even before NATO membership, we continue to negotiate a defense agreement with Ukraine. Around 30 countries have already concluded or are negotiating long-term security agreements with Ukraine. This is about providing Ukraine with substantial long-term security commitments to ensure that it has not only what it needs to defend itself today, but also what it needs to defend in the future.

VOA: The Pentagon and White House have been firm on their stance regarding restrictions on how Ukraine can use U.S. weapons in Russia. Secretary Blinken has repeatedly emphasized that the United States does not encourage Ukraine to use American equipment to strike Russia, but that it is up to Ukraine to make decisions on how kyiv will conduct the war. Could you explain the difference between the two positions?

Miller: So there is no policy difference between us and the Pentagon or between us and the White House. We all have the same policy: we do not encourage strikes outside the borders of Ukraine. We do not allow such strikes beyond Ukrainian borders. We understand that when it comes to using weapons not supplied by the United States, Ukraine will ultimately make its own decisions.

Ukraine is a sovereign country, and it will have to make its own decisions when it comes to using weapons that it acquired elsewhere or that it built or produced itself, as some drones that it produces, that you I've seen them use. These are decisions that it is up to Ukraine to make.

We do not allow the use of these weapons to strike outside Russia. This has been our long-standing policy…it continues to be our policy.

VOA: And why exactly this policy when Russia is opening a new front in the Kharkiv region?

Miller: So we continue to support Ukraine's ability to finance itself, including even some of the money or some of the equipment under the recently adopted supplementary budget. [aid package] has already arrived on the front line to help Ukraine defend against the onslaught of Kharkiv. From day one, we have been committed to defending Ukraine.

I can just tell you that we have always been there for Ukraine. We will always be there for Ukraine. We will always provide them [with] what they need to defend themselves.

VOA: What is the State Department's reaction to British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps' recent statement that China is developing “combat equipment” with Russia for use against Ukraine? Is the State Department seeing evidence of this? And if it is confirmed, what could be the consequences of such a decision for Beijing?

Miller: We have not seen the information to support this. Of course, we will start a conversation with our British counterparts about what they saw. I will say that, as far as the United States is concerned, we looked at this very closely because there was a time when we were very concerned that China was going to provide military support to Russia.

And we have made it clear to the Chinese government that this would be unacceptable. We haven't seen them cross that line. That said, we are extremely concerned about what we have seen China do, namely Chinese companies selling microelectronic products, optical sensors and other equipment that are not directly military equipment, but that Russia used to reinvigorate its defense industrial base and to fuel its war machine.

We have done [it] it is clear that this worries us. And as the Secretary said, when he visited China several weeks ago and raised this very issue with President Xi [Jinping]if China does not act to resolve this problem, the United States will.