Will the US soon lift restrictions on Ukraine's use of long-range weapons?

In hearings before the House Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday, July 2, speakers from both sides called on the White House to finally remove the limitations it has placed on the use of the long-range weapons it has supplied.

In May, the Biden administration announced that it would now allow Ukrainian forces to fire their weapons at Russia, but would limit their use to positions adjacent to the Kharkiv region.

Firing on Russia has been a red line for Washington since the start of the full-scale invasion, for fear that it would be used by the Kremlin as an excuse to escalate its war.

The catalyst for this change in attitude was the Russian glider bomb attack on the Epicenter shopping complex in Kharkiv, which killed at least 19 people, including two children.

As U.S. officials congratulated themselves on their largesse, President Volodymyr Zelensky told a news conference days later: “Is it enough? No.”

This is yet another example of Washington gradually backtracking on an initial refusal by the US to deliver certain weapons and then, once provided, to limit their use, leaving kyiv dissatisfied and confused, but giving them hope that if they kept up the pressure, Biden and his colleagues would eventually give in.

Prominent analysts, such as George Barros of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), have said that a completely “no gloves” approach to cross-border strikes “…could really change warfare.”

It is not surprising that, in this context, kyiv and many of its Western allies, including the United Kingdom, Sweden, Poland, the Baltic states and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, have been pressuring the US administration to remove existing controls and allow Ukraine to use the weapons they have supplied to strike Russian territory.

At Tuesday's hearing, it became clear that there is also growing bipartisan support among U.S. lawmakers for allowing kyiv to be free to wage the war it says it must wage.

Republican Rep. Joe Wilson said: “Putin and his forces calculated the exact distance from which to strike Ukraine from Russian territory – so that Ukraine could not retaliate.”

Wilson stressed that the call to lift all bans on U.S. weapons was supported by both Republicans and Democrats and that Russia's threats of escalation “prove to be futile time and time again.”

Voice of America quotes Gregory Meeks, a Democratic member of the Foreign Relations Committee, as saying he also supports lifting restrictions on Ukraine's armed forces:

“…it is logical, if you see that Russia is firing from a certain area near the border, then Ukraine should be able to fire from there. If it is from any other point, then Ukraine should be able to access it as well.”

Another Republican congressman speaking at the hearing, Thomas Kean, said that “the administration [only] “We have resorted to half measures” in our current change of policy in the face of Ukraine's need to strike targets on Russian territory.

Kean demanded an explanation for why the White House provided Ukraine with ATACMS, which have a range of 300 kilometers. [190 miles] but had limited the use of American weapons to less than 100 kilometers [60 miles] from the border. He then asked: “How many Russian air bases are within range of ATACMS?”

Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs James O'Brien responded by saying: “If Russia tries to extend the current front, Ukraine will be allowed to shoot from a greater distance.”

He then added that even with the current limitations “…we see a dramatic change in Russia's ability to continue its campaign against Ukraine due to the loss of targets in the area where the fire is being fired.” [currently] allowed.”

The comments echoed remarks made a week earlier by U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

In early June, Republican Rep. Mike Turner, head of the House Intelligence Committee, formally wrote to U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to request the removal of all restrictions on Ukraine's use of ATACMS missiles and other U.S. long-range weapons.

If Biden's record is any indication, it will only be a matter of time before the White House responds positively to the pressure it is receiving from all sides, but hopefully sooner rather than later.