official launch
U.S. to send Ukraine advanced rocket systems, Biden confirms
President Biden on Tuesday confirmed the U.S. is sending medium-range advanced rocket systems to Ukraine, per Ukrainian officials' request.
In an essay published in The New York Times, Biden said the weapons will enable Ukrainians to "more precisely strike key targets on the battlefield," while simultaneously noting that the U.S. is not "encouraging or enabling Ukraine to strike beyond its borders," nor does the U.S. "seek a war between NATO and Russia."
Despite such assurances, Moscow was not happy with Biden's decision. "We believe that the United States is deliberately and diligently 'pouring fuel on the fire,'" Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in a Wednesday news briefing, per The Washington Post. "Such deliveries do not contribute to … the Ukrainian leadership's willingness to resume peace talks."
The U.S. will send the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, for short, as part of a new $700 million military equipment package for Kyiv. Ukrainians currently use a Russian-made version of the HIMARS system, a U.S. official told the Post.