Announcement comes as Ukraine pushes to be allowed to use Western-supplied, long-range missiles for strikes in Russia.The administration of United States President Joe Biden says it is preparing a large aid package for Ukraine in the coming weeks as a debate continues over whether Ukrainian forces should be allowed to use Western-supplied weapons to strike farther inside Russia.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Saturday that Washington is working on a “substantial” round of further assistance for Kyiv and Biden will meet his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, this month.
“I do think we need a comprehensive strategy for success in this war, and that is what President Zelenskyy says he is bringing,” Sullivan said in remarks delivered via videolink at the Yalta European Strategy conference in Ukraine’s capital.
“So we are very much looking forward to sitting down and talking that through, and President Biden is eager for that conversation,” he said.
Sullivan made the remarks as Ukraine has been pushing for more long-range weaponry to hit targets deeper inside Russian territory, a development that analysts worried could escalate tensions between Moscow and Kyiv’s Western backers.
More than two and a half years since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022, Ukrainian forces have struggled in recent weeks as Russia has made progress around Pokrovsk, a key transit hub in eastern Ukraine.
Pokrovsk’s capture could enable Moscow to open new lines of attack and complicate Ukrainian logistics.
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