Storm Shadow, ATACMS missiles may create bigger problems for Russians on Russian territory

The US does not want to give Ukraine permission to strike its long-range weapons on Russian territory - in the hope of resetting its relations with Moscow in the future, Politico writes, citing sources.

The White House and the Pentagon claim that Ukraine has the potential to win without this, the publication's source said.

Part of the discussions concerns allowing British Storm Shadow missiles, already in the Ukrainian arsenal, to strike Russian airfields and supply depots inside Russia. Because the missiles contain American components, the Biden administration would have to agree to their use. The British government has not yet made a formal request, though it is conducting an internal review, and the Biden administration is aware of the issue, according to officials on both sides of the Atlantic.

One White House official said that using Storm Shadow or ATACMS against Russia may not be as effective as advertised. In addition, the Ukrainian military has a limited supply of such missiles, and those it does have may not reach critical Russian targets that are already out of their range.

"Ninety percent of the aircraft that launch glide bombs" from Russian airspace at Ukrainian civilian infrastructure are already beyond the range of those missiles," a senior US administration official told the publication.

In response to the Ukrainians' request, the White House said the United States would eventually want to reset relations with Moscow, and lifting restrictions on long-range strikes could undermine those efforts.

Some in the upper echelons of Biden's national security apparatus believe Kyiv may be launching a public campaign to hedge against any potential significant loss of ground in Ukraine in the coming months, according to one person familiar with internal conversations between Washington and Kyiv.

Ukrainians say they need more freedom of action and remain optimistic they can achieve it.

"There are some signs now that Biden might want to do something big in Ukraine - maybe lift some restrictions - before the election, now that he's not running," said one senior Ukrainian adviser.

The US already allows the use of its long-range missiles on Russian territory, but only for defensive purposes - as counter-battery fire to hit Russian missile launchers just across the border firing at Ukraine.

"Our policy is to allow Ukraine to conduct counterfire to defend against Russian attacks coming through that border region - and that border region includes Kursk - and includes Sumy," Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters in Russia.