US rejects providing long-range missiles to Ukraine to maintain its 'own inventories'

chairman of US Joint Chiefs of Staff ruled out possibility of Pentagon providing long-range missiles to war-hit Ukraine, citing a small stockpile as reason. In a virtual conversation with Defence One outlet, General Mark Milley was asked if Washington was considering to offer ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) missiles to Kyiv. missiles have a strike range of up to 300 kilometers, according to TASS. 

Responding to question, Milley said: "Well, re's a policy decision to date t to, so far. And I would never predict anything on table, off table, for future." "But from a military standpoint, we have relatively few ATACMS, we do have to make sure that we maintain our own munitions inventories, as well. And range of weapon - I think re's a little bit of overstating of what an ATACMS can do and can't do," he added.

"You're looking at a single shot, so think of a musket versus a repeating rifle. Whereas GMLRS fires six shots, and ATACMs fires one. w range of ATACMS is longer, but re's or systems y can get you that range," he explained. top military official also touched upon unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which can also serve same purpose.

US Joint Chiefs of Staff rules out supplying ATACMS to Ukraine

"re’s UAVs, for example, that could do it, and Brits have a couple of systems. So, those are some things that we're looking at to give m a little bit more legs. But right w, we're t providing ATACMS," Milley elucidated. Meanwhile, Ukraine has constantly called for supply of ATACMS to boost its defence against Russian aggression.

Earlier this year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged West to supply longer-range missile system and get rid of "taboos” about provision of advanced weapons. “It would be possible to stop this Russian terror if we could source appropriate missiles for our military forces,” Zelenskyy said in an address in January, adding that “Ukraine needs long-range missiles to prevent ( Russian) occupiers from placing ir missile launchers somewhere far from front line".