Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky renewed his plea for Western nations to supply Ukraine with more potent weapons, including the Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, to help Kyiv defend against Russian attacks from places far from the front line. “There can be no taboo in the supply of weapons to protect against Russian terror,” Zelensky said in his nightly address.
Kyiv has long argued that it needs the U.S.-made weapons to strike Russian targets in places such as Crimea — which have been used to launch missile and drone attacks across Ukrainian cities, with devastating effect. Washington has so far resisted Kyiv’s calls, concerned that providing Ukraine with a weapon capable of hitting targets inside Russia could escalate the nearly year-long conflict.
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
4. From our correspondents
It was Secretary of State Antony Blinken who suggested the possible workaround, write Karen DeYoung, Dan Lamothe and Loveday Morris. What if they announced a commitment to supply M1s — something Scholz insisted on if Germany was to provide its own battle tanks — but at some future point as part of Kyiv’s long-term needs? It could provide Scholz with the cover he sought to allow the Leopards to move right away. At the same time, it would give the Pentagon time to address concerns about training and logistics.
