Ukraine to show US list of Russian targets for ATACMS to receive permission to strike from Biden

Ukraine plans to hand over a list of targets deep in Russian territory to Joe Biden’s administration in order to convince the US to lift the ban on using American weapons to strike Russian territory.

According to Politico, reportedly, this is not the first list prepared by Kyiv but this one is more detailed.

It is planned to show the list to the Americans as early as this week, when Rustem Umierov, Minister of Defence of Ukraine, and Andrii Yermak, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, visit Washington.

The sources of Politico report that the list will include several "high-value" targets which could be reached using American long-range missiles, and Kyiv hopes to finally convince Biden to lift the restriction by providing this list.

While escalation is still a concern, the White House has more recently been stressing its belief that there is "little tactical advantage", given Russia moving assets out of range. Moreover, it believes that Ukraine would lack the ATACMS missiles the US is able to provide to launch attacks on the targets in both occupied Crimea and the territory of Russia. Biden’s administration believes that Ukraine’s campaign of strikes on the targets in Crimea is fruitful.

At a briefing on 26 August John Kirby, White House National Security Communications Advisor, stated that there had been no changes in US policy regarding the deployment of American armament by Ukraine.

However, some members of the Ukrainian Parliament and officials see the signs that Washington is considering lifting the restrictions shortly.

Earlier, WP reported that amid the operation in Kursk Oblast, Ukraine intensified its request to Biden’s administration to let it use ATACMS to strike the airbases of Russian aircraft in the territory of Russia.