Ukraine aid bill enables long-range missile systems

The House of Representatives passed legislation this weekend that would provide Ukraine with roughly $60 billion worth of aid if signed into law, and it could pave the way for the United States to provide the European nation with the long-range missiles it has sought for a long time.

This legislation, which the House passed on Saturday, stipulated that the military “shall transfer long range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to the Government of Ukraine” unless the president determines doing so would be “detrimental to the national security interests of the United States.”

The Senate is expected to vote on the bill as soon as Tuesday, and President Joe Biden has said he intends to sign it into law, which he has hoped to do for months. The Department of Defense has effectively been unable to provide Ukraine with aid this year due to the House’s inability to pass Biden’s requested supplemental legislation.

Ukraine has faced the effects of the lack of U.S. military support on the battlefield having to concede towns in eastern Ukraine, ration ammunition, and suffer from low morale.

The U.S. has already provided Ukraine with shorter-range versions of the ATACMS, but Ukrainian officials have frequently and publicly discussed the newer version. The newer missiles, which have a longer range, would give Kyiv the ability to carry out attacks on Russian airfields, fuel depots, and weapons storage sites. U.S. officials have said they do not support Ukraine attacks “inside Russia,” nor do they want to enable them.

Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke Monday and discussed the aid legislation.

“President Biden shared that his administration will quickly provide significant new security assistance packages to meet Ukraine’s urgent battlefield and air defense needs as soon as the Senate passes the national security supplemental and he signs it into law,” according to a White House readout.

Zelensky said, “Four key priorities are sky protection, modern artillery, long-range capabilities, and the possibility of receiving American assistance packages as soon as possible. And today we have a result: everything has been decided in the ATACMS negotiations for Ukraine. I am grateful to President Biden, Congress, and the entire United States.”

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on CBS’s Face The Nation that the administration “was prepared over the last couple of months to provide ATACMS,” and that the “materials will be in transit by the end of the week” if the Senate passes the bill and the president signs it expeditiously.

The Pentagon is “poised and ready to support Ukraine with additional security assistance,” spokesman Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said Monday, adding, “We’ve been in constant contact throughout with Ukraine, our allies and partners on what those needs are, and so we’ll certainly keep you updated.”

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Days earlier, he declined to comment in particular about the ATACMS requirement in the legislation.

“We’ve provided readouts in terms of the capabilities that have been associated with the PDAs,” Ryder said last week. “Of course, as you know, we’ve always said nothing is off the table, but I don’t have anything to announce today.”