Biden greenlights ATACMS transfer to Ukraine prior to Zelenskyy's U.S. visit: The New Yorker reports
President of the United States Joe Biden (Photo: Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
President Joe Biden has made the decision to transfer ATACMS missiles to Ukraine ahead of the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the United States, according to The New Yorker.
"In September, shortly before Zelenskyy made his second visit to Washington since the invasion, Biden approved sending ATACMS to Ukraine, after nearly a year of resisting the idea," the article states.
It is noted that American officials held two rounds of formal negotiations with Ukraine regarding the terms of the memorandum of understanding.
Biden was against transferring missiles to Ukraine
A former official told the magazine that until December 2022, President Biden's national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, tried to pressure the President to push the Russians.
"He was pushing Biden: 'Why don't we at least say we will send ATACMS unless you (Russian - Ed.) stop firing on cities?'" the statement reads.
Sullivan allegedly made this argument for at least six months, but President Biden did not want to do it.
ATACMS for Ukraine
At the end of September, Newsweek reported that Ukraine would soon receive approval to acquire long-range rockets with cassette ammunition manufactured in the United States. This includes the M26, M26A1, and M39 rockets with ranges of 36 km, 45 km, and 160 km, respectively.
Other Western media previously stated that the issue of transferring long-range ATACMS had gained momentum. During the meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Joe Biden, the latter informed the Ukrainian leader that the United States would provide a small quantity of ATACMS missiles, according to NBC News.
Recently, Biden stated that the United States had fulfilled all of Zelenskyy's requests for weapon supplies. In this way, he responded to journalists' questions about the supply of ATACMS missiles.
