White House: New security assistance to Ukraine meets the country's needs

"We have tried to get the Ukrainians exactly what we think they needed to be able to fend off this Russian assault on their country. That worked in the early days, the Ukrainians were able to win the battle for Kyiv and drive the Russians away from their capital, now the conflict has shifted to a different phase in the south and east of the country," deputy national security adviser Jon Finer told CNN.

He noted that the new weapons would add to Ukraine’s capability and “will give them the ability to strike with precision Russian targets on the battlefield.” He thus commented on the White House's position on providing the Armed Forces of Ukraine with rocket systems with a range of up to 70-80 km and the decision to refrain from sending systems capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 300 km.

“We believe that this does meet their needs,” Finer said when pressed on Ukraine’s request for longer-range systems.

The US, he added, has asked Ukraine “for assurances that they will not use these systems to strike inside Russia” and instead to defend Ukrainian territory.

The day before, the US administration announced it would take all necessary steps to declare and send new weapons to Ukraine in the "coming days". The batch will be sent at the request of the Ukrainian side within the framework of a large-scale package of support passed by Congress and approved by US President.

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