Ukraine gave assurances to US on use of advanced weapons: Blinken

WASHINGTON

The top US diplomat said Wednesday that Ukraine has provided assurances that advanced arms being provided will not be used to target Russian territories.

"There is a strong trust bond between Ukraine and the United States, as well as with our allies and partners," Antony Blinken said at a news conference with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.

Blinken said US President Joe Biden was clear with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, even before the aggression in Ukraine, about what Washington would do if Moscow proceeds with a war in Ukraine.

"There was no hiding the ball. We've been extremely clear about this from day one,” he said. “So we have done exactly what we said we would do. And it is Russia again. They chose to launch this aggression despite all of our efforts to prevent.”

Biden said Tuesday that the US will send Ukraine advanced rocket systems to defend against Russia as the war drags on.

In an op-ed piece published in The New York Times, Biden cited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's remarks that the war will "only definitively end through diplomacy," saying Washington sent weaponry to strengthen Kyiv at the negotiating table.

"That’s why I’ve decided that we will provide the Ukrainians with more advanced rocket systems and munitions that will enable them to more precisely strike key targets on the battlefield in Ukraine," he wrote.

But Biden on Monday rebuffed reports that the US is preparing to send advanced long-range rocket systems to Ukraine.

"We are not going to send to Ukraine rocket systems that can strike into Russia," Biden told reporters at the White House.

That denial came days after multiple reports cited administration officials who said the US is preparing to send new weaponry to Ukraine, including Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, or MLRS.

According to CNN, the American MLRS can rain rockets hundreds of kilometers, more than any capability now owned by Ukraine.