As the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has learned, the team of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegsett has been blocking Ukraine's use of long-range missiles to strike the territory of the aggressor country, Russia, for several months in a row.
Points of attention
- The procedure developed by Deputy Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby has hindered Ukraine's attempts to utilize ATACMS and British-French Storm Shadow cruise missiles for offensive purposes.
- Despite Trump's comments on Ukraine's defensive limitations, no significant decisions have been made to support Ukraine in offensive actions.
The Pentagon is preventing Ukraine from defending itself
According to insiders, after Donald Trump returned to the White House, the US Department of Defense introduced an unannounced high-level approval procedure.
It is she who blocks Ukraine's ability to launch American long-range tactical missile systems (ATACMS) at targets deep inside Russia.
What is important to understand is that this has been happening since the end of spring — that is, the last 3 months.
Anonymous sources also say that at least once Ukraine tried to use ATACMS on a target in Russia, but was refused.
Only US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth can personally authorize such strikes. This applies to ATACMS missiles, as well as the British-French Storm Shadow cruise missiles, since they receive targeting data from the US, the article says.
According to insiders, Deputy Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby developed this procedure.
Journalists point out that just a few days ago, Donald Trump lamented that Ukraine would not be able to win the war by limiting itself to defensive actions,
However, these were exceptionally loud words that did not lead to any important decisions in favor of Ukraine.
