Ukraine Presses US on Allowing Missile Strikes Deep Within Russia

Above: U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (2ndR) , Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov (R), German Defense Minister Christine Lamprecht (2ndL) and General Mark Milley (C). Image copyright: Thomas Niedermueller/Stringer/Getty Images News via Getty Images

The Facts

  • Sitting beside senior US defense officials at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany, Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy once again made his case that Ukraine should be able to use Western-provided missiles to strike targets deep into Russian territory on Friday.

  • Zelenskyy said that "long-range capability" was required "on the Russian territory" in order to motivate Moscow to "seek peace."


The Spin

Pro-establishment narrative

Lifting Ukraine's restrictions on weapons would allow it to better defend itself by striking Russian sites that launch missiles into Ukraine with impunity. This would help Ukraine's war effort, push Putin to negotiate for peace, and save Ukrainian lives.

Pro-Russia narrative

The US needs to think long and hard about whether to allow Ukraine to strike Russia with long-range weapons. Ukraine knows the only way it can possibly win this conflict is by drawing in the US and UK into the fight, and that's what it hopes to achieve by striking Russia with their weapons, even if it leads to the outbreak of World War III.


Metaculus Prediction


Public figures in this story


Go Deeper


Establishment split

CRITICAL

PRO

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