The US warned Ukraine about the danger of using NATO weapons to attack Russian territory

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 Washington warned that if Kiev used NATO-backed weapons to attack inside Russia, it would split the military alliance and escalate the conflict.


The United States and its allies have discussed with Ukraine the risk of escalation if Kiev uses Western-supplied weapons to attack targets on Russian territory, Reuters quoted sources familiar with on May 26 as saying. .


"We're concerned about escalation, but we don't want to put geo-restrictions or tie them (Ukraine) too much in terms of using the weapons we give them," said a US official, who asked not to be named. said.


Douglas Lute, a former US ambassador to NATO and a former US Army general, said that if the Ukrainian army were to attack deep inside Russia, "it would lead to internal conflicts within NATO, which both NATO and Ukraine doesn't want it."


The warning comes as the United States and its Western allies are stepping up arms aid to help Ukraine cope with Russia's military campaign. A Reuters source said that the administration of US President Joe Biden is considering transferring to Ukraine long-range systems such as the M142 High Mobility Artillery Missile System (HIMARS), which could theoretically strike deep into the depths. Russian territory.


Less than an hour after the media published this information, a Ukrainian official asked the US to provide Kiev with this weapon with a range of up to hundreds of kilometers.


"We urgently need M270 multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) or M142 HIMARS artillery systems to protect soldiers' lives. The US has 2,000 MLRS systems in service and in stockpiles. need you to give us 200 of them, we will prevent attacks," Anton Gerashenko, an adviser to the Interior Ministry of Ukraine, wrote on Twitter.


The United States and its Western allies have so far hesitated to transfer heavy long-range weapons to Ukraine for fear that the conflict will spiral out of control and spread beyond Ukraine's borders.


Last month, Moscow accused the Ukrainian military of several times of shelling targets in the Russian border city, which Kiev denied. At the time, British Armed Forces Secretary James Heappey said: "It is perfectly legal for Ukraine to penetrate deep into Russian territory to disrupt logistics."


On the US side, Foreign Minister Antony Blinken stressed: "We are determined to give them what they need to deal with Russia and regain control of the territory. It has nothing to do with whether the Ukrainians should Whether they act beyond their borders or not. My point is: They have to do whatever it takes to deal with Russia. And the tactics are up to them. What we're doing is just that. is to make sure the Ukrainians have the means to defend themselves, and can do whatever is necessary to repel the Russian army."


Russia criticizes the West's continuous supply of weapons to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned yesterday that this move could lead to an "unacceptable escalation of tensions".

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