Ukraine asks US for ATACMS, offers targeting oversight

Ukraine requests the US to hand over ATACMS long-range missile systems with full and ongoing visibility into their list of intended targets.

According to CNN sources, this is how Kyiv wants to overcome Washington’s resistance.

The Ukrainian government is now offering the US full and ongoing visibility into their list of intended Russian targets planned to be hit with ATACMS.

This essentially gives the US veto power over strikes inside Russian territory, which Washington fears would escalate the war and draw it directly into the Russian-Ukrainian war.

“We’ve basically outlined exactly what specific targets we need to hit on our territory that we can’t hit with what we have now. The categories of goals are clear and do not change,” a Ukrainian official told CNN on condition of anonymity.

In particular, this regards to logistics routes, airfields, air bases and weapons depots in the south and east of Ukraine, including the occupied Crimea.

ATACMS are also expected to allow Ukraine to strike Iranian drone launch sites.

At the same time, the White House believes that Ukraine has enough M142/M270 systems, and it is worth focusing on working with them.

Some CNN sources believe that providing the longer-range ATACMS weapons would cross a red line in the eyes of Moscow, which would see the US becoming “a direct party to the conflict.”

One of CNN’s sources from the American side explains the refusal to provide ATACMS as follows: “little benefit, many risks.”

At the same time, Kyiv believes that the main reason is Washington’s reluctance to overcome the “psychological threshold”.

ATACMS missile systems are surface-to-surface missiles that can hit targets hundreds of kilometers away and are launched from M142/M270 systems, which are already in service with Ukraine.