Why Is US 'Odd Man Out' In Restricting Ukraine From Targeting Inside Russia With US Weapons?

5 months ago

Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh was asked why the US is the 'odd man out' among NATO allies in not allowing Ukraine to use US weapons against Russian targets inside core Russian territory.

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript

Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Transcript

00:00Most of the other NATO supporters, England, Germany, France, Poland, have already lifted

00:06any restrictions on their weapons being used to strike targets inside Russia proper.

00:12The U.S. Defense Department already always consistently boasts about how it works in

00:18concert with the allies. Why on this particular point is the U.S. the odd man out on this?

00:24Everybody else is doing it. Why is, you know, is it just politics? What?

00:29I don't know that we're the odd man out, Mike, but I appreciate the question. And

00:34right now, there's no change to our policy. You've seen us adapt over time as Russian

00:38capabilities adapt. So does our support for Ukraine. You know, at the very beginning of

00:44this war, we were surging things like Stingers and Javelins. Over time, it became HIMARS,

00:50then ATACMS. We continue to adapt to the capabilities that they need,

00:55and the battlefield continues to change. Right now, our policy is still what it was

01:01from the beginning. There has been no change. In fact, you know, we continue to engage the

01:07Ukrainians. The Secretary had a call earlier this week with his counterpart. But the security

01:12assistance that we provide Ukraine, we believe that Ukraine can be successful on the battlefield

01:18by using it within Ukraine. If Russia can have these protected areas

01:22to attack Ukraine, aren't they – is it going to be basically impossible, you know, for them,

01:29for Ukraine to prevail in this? If Russia can continue striking them from these areas that

01:35the U.S. says you're not allowed to hit them from – you're not allowed to hit them here,

01:38aren't you hobbling them from really becoming – you're giving them enough not to lose,

01:43but not enough to win? I don't know, Mike. I think at the very beginning of this war, you saw

01:47many people saying that they didn't have what they need to hold Kiev, and then they did. And

01:52then it was Kherson, and then Kharkiv, and they continue to fight. They continue to push Russians

01:56back. And we know that during the time that we didn't have that supplemental passed,

02:01Russians did make gains on the battlefield. But we've been able to provide them with what they

02:05need, and we believe that they have what they need to be successful. Yeah.

Why Is US 'Odd Man Out' In Restricting Ukraine From Targeting Inside Russia With US Weapons?

Category

Transcript

Recommended