US House of Representatives believes that US should give Ukraine freedom of action in use of weapons

Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, believes that the current approach of "partial authorisations" for Ukraine to use US-supplied weapons is wrong and plans to discuss this issue with the White House.

Johnson said in a comment to Holos Ameryky (Voice of America) that the White House should not engage in micromanagement and that he would raise this issue in a dialogue with the Biden administration.

"I don't believe that we should be micromanaging the war effort in Ukraine. I think that we need to give them the weapons that are necessary to defend themselves and push back the Russians. So I oppose the President [Biden] on that. I continue to say it, and I will again. We will have conversations with the White House about it," Johnson said.

Earlier, Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives also expressed hope that all restrictions on the use of US weapons against Russia would be lifted.

Recently, Republican Congressman Michael McCaul, Chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, said that the US administration's logic makes it difficult for Ukraine to use what the US provides effectively. 

"We allocated this money to arm Ukraine so that they could win this war. And every time we limit or restrain them, it goes against the intent of Congress... Jake Sullivan [White House National Security Adviser – ed.] has been using this half-hearted approach for the last two years," McCaul commented, recalling how in the early stages of the full-scale war, all types of weapons were considered "too provocative."

Last week, Ukraine confirmed that it had received a limited authorisation to strike targets in Russia with US weapons.

The White House clarified that the US authorisation for strikes with US weapons applies to the border areas of not only Kharkiv Oblast but also Sumy Oblast. At the same time, the authorisation does not apply to long-range ATACMS missiles.