Ukraine Can Strike Russia With Homemade Weapons, U.S. Says

The United States on Monday made it clear that Ukraine can strike deep inside Russia by using homemade weapons, with no permission needed, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"Ukraine does have an enormous amount of material to defend itself," State Department's Spokesperson Matthew Miller told a daily briefing when responding to TURAN's questions. "They are a sovereign country and can use the weapons that they build on their own, of which, are many, if you look at the programs that they have put in place over the last year," he emphasized.

Kyiv has recently carried out successful attacks on targets inside Russia with homemade arms, namely long-range drones. However, Russian forces are still able to break through Ukraine's defensive lines and target the country's biggest cities.

Miller said, the U.S. continued to invest in the growth of Ukraine's defense industrial base.  "We always look at whether there are additional tools that we can provide them.  If you notice the announcement that the President (Biden) made on Thursday, we are providing them with an additional $8 billion in security assistance, and we will continue to support them," he said.

When asked by TURAN why Washington could not allow Ukraine to use American weapons to strike back, Miller said they consider all capabilities, tactics and support for Ukraine comprehensively.

".. You and I have had this conversation before about other weapon systems that – or tactics that you presented to me as the one magic capability that would change the face of the conflict.  And I think I have always made clear that that is not how we see it, that we look at all of the capabilities and all the tactics and all the support that we provide Ukraine in totality, and look at how – when we approve any new weapon system or any new tactic, we look at how it’s going to affect the entire battlefield and Ukraine’s entire strategy.  And that’s what we’ll continue to do," he concluded.