UK military official avoids question about long-range weapons to Kiev
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UK Deputy Defense Minister Andrew Murrison dodges a question about long-range weapons to Kiev, which Russia has previously warned against.
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Ukrainian servicemen taking part in the armed conflict with Russia-backed separatists in the Donetsk region of the country attend the handover ceremony of military heavy weapons and equipment in Kiev on November 15, 2018 (AFP)
UK Deputy Defense Minister Andrew Murrison dodged a question about the probable sale of long-range weapons to Kiev on Thursday, adding that the UK had previously provided Ukraine with AS-90 self-propelled artillery systems.
Murrison told the House of Commons when asked what long-range weapons the UK will supply to Ukraine that "AS-90 is a good artillery piece and Ukraine will certainly find a great benefit in doing what it has to do. The aim of our support to Ukraine is to enable Ukraine to defend itself, and most certainly is not to go beyond that."
He added that the UK Defense Ministry also took into account the presence of artillery pieces in its own army and the possibility of replacing them in the event of transfer to Ukraine.
Western countries have been supplying Kiev with a variety of military systems, including air defense missiles, multiple launch rocket systems, tanks, self-propelled artillery, and anti-aircraft weapons, since the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine. The Kremlin has frequently advised against sending further armaments to Kiev.
Read next: Western allies to send precision rockets, missile systems to Kiev
Earlier this year, the Pentagon announced a new rocket-propelled precision bomb that may nearly increase Kiev's strike range against the Russians as part of a new $2.2 billion US arms deal for Ukraine.
Ground-launched small-diameter bombs (GLSDB), a weapon with a maximum range of 150 kilometers, are also part of the new package, according to Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder. These bombs pose a threat to Russian troops and depots that are located far from the front lines.
"This gives them a longer range capability ... that will enable them to conduct operations in defense of their country and to take back their sovereign territory," Ryder said.
Ukraine had requested weapons with a range greater than the HIMARS rockets' 80 km range.
Read next: Ukraine arms supplies not as fast as promises of abundance: WaPo
Last year in June, the Head of the Russian Delegation to the Negotiations on Military Security and Arms Control in Vienna, Konstantin Gavrilov, told the Rossiya-24 TV channel that Russia will respond immediately in the event that it is attacked with long-range weapon systems.
"We particularly put the spotlight on the delivery [to Ukraine] of long-range howitzers and HIMARS MLRS that threaten not only Donbass but Russia as well. We have clearly laid out Russia’s stance: if the Russian Federation is attacked with these long-range systems, the response against the decision-making centers will be immediate," he said, adding, "I think, this is happening not without the involvement of Ukraine’s military and political leadership. I am not ruling out anything anymore," Gavrilov stressed.
According to the diplomat, the Kiev regime had promised that Ukraine won’t use the HIMARS system to strike Russia, but these promises are "not worth a red cent."
A few months after his statement, the US State Department agreed on a potential sale of High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) Launchers and related equipment worth around $495 million to the Lithuanian government, the Pentagon said on November 9, 2022.
“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by helping to improve the military capability of a NATO Ally that is an important force for ensuring political stability and economic progress within Eastern Europe,” the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a press release, noting that Lithuania has requested to buy eight M142 HIMARS Launchers and other military hardware.
