War tensions are steadily rising after the United Kingdom announced that it is going to be sending long-range missiles to Ukraine in its war with Russia. The United States rulers are “breathing a quiet sigh of relief” over the newest reports that the U.K. will cross a red line.
London is set to send missiles with a range of 300 km, or nearly 200 miles, the Washington Post’s Karen DeYoung reports. That’s the same range as the Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, that Washington has so far refused to transfer to Kyiv. U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly declined to comment on the timing and scale of future commitments during a Tuesday news conference alongside Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The U.K.’s proposed delivery of long-range missiles has lifted the burden on the U.S. to provide such weaponry, Politico reported. The war tensions are increasing and red lines continue to get crossed. The Biden administration is said to be relieved that other countries are helping to inflame the war.
Politico’s NatSec Daily was told that Washington’s position remained unchanged and that the Pentagon was not going to send Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, to Ukraine, even with the UK crossing that line first.
According to the original report, the British Ministry of Defence asked for “expressions of interest” in providing to Ukraine strike capabilities with a range of up to 300 kilometers (200 miles). The wording was included in a procurement notice posted last week by the British-led International Fund for Ukraine, which serves as a vehicle for funneling military aid to Kiev. -RT
It looks like the U.S. is going to escape scrutiny over this particular weapons transfer to Ukraine. The weapons in question will probably be Storm Shadow cruise missiles, the newspaper said. Unlike the ground-launched, ballistic ATACMS, they must be fired from an air platform, but have comparable range.
Kyiv has been requesting Western weapons donors give it the capability to strike targets from further away, promising not to attack territory that the U.S. and its allies recognize as Russian.
The rulers of the U.K. believe that they can get away with this massive provocation because Russia doesn’t like London. “It’s a position the United Kingdom can uniquely do [since] Russia doesn’t like us very much anyway,” a British official said while explaining London’s willingness (and almost eagerness) to escalate.