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Joe Biden appears to have called Russia’s bluff by telling Volodymyr Zelensky he will send Ukraine the “wonder weapon” ATACMS.
The reportedly President made the announcement to his Ukrainian counterpart in the latest round of crunch talks between the two leaders today.
After months of back and forth, it means Kyiv will be able to target 186 miles behind Russia’s frontlines, and they will even be able to hit Crimea.
While no confirmation has been made on when Ukraine can expect the ATACMS, Colonel Richard Kemp exclusively told Daily Express US that Vladimir Putin’s likely “bluster” on the weapons “won’t mean anything”.
Speaking to Daily Express US, the Afghanistan veteran said: “Russia will do what they’ve done for pretty much every major weapons decision, they’ll start threatening and blustering, and it won’t mean anything. It won’t change anything.
“When the UK decided to send tanks, that was a red line for the Russians and ‘we will pay for that’, and it doesn’t amount to anything, because the Russians can’t do anything about it.
“They can’t intensify the conflict because they’re throwing everything they can into the conflict.
“They’re not going to attack NATO, they won’t attempt to attack NATO supplies of ATACMS coming into Poland, because the last thing they want is a fight with NATO. That’s what they don’t want.
“There’ll be a lot of talking and blustering and threatening, but it won’t actually mean anything.”
Col. Kemp also told Daily Express US that that talks on Ukraine getting the ATACMS have “been on and off for such a long time now, in a way I’ll believe it when I see it”.
But he added: “If it is going to happen it’s very good news, it’s very much needed by the Ukrainian and it should have been produced for them long ago.
“If they’re delivered in time, it’ll make probably a significant difference to the way that the counter-offensive is going at the moment, which is not very well.”
The British veteran noted that Ukraine has been using Storm Shadow and SCALP weapons systems, “but there’s not enough of them and the range of the ATACMS is far better and the munitions more powerful”.
In a push for a fight back in Moscow’s home turf, Col. Kemp also added: “Not only ATACMS, but also other long range weapons like drones and also Storm Shadow and other supplied weapons, should be freed to be used against the Russians on their own territory. Currently, that’s banned, because of fears of escalation.
“Meanwhile the Russians are able to hit the Ukrainians wherever they like, anywhere they like, and Ukraine can’t use Western weapons to hit Russian territory, which I think is a big mistake.
“They should be using them to hit military targets inside Russia, command posts, headquarters, weapons manufacturing sites, skylines, troops being moved forward, etc.
“That can be done with ATACMS, and it should be done.”
Ukraine has pleaded with Washington to send it ATACMS for months, with Zelensky’s visit proving critical for securing the weapons.
Defense officials told NBC that the US does not have a large stockpile of excess ATACMS, which have a bigger payload than traditional artillery.
But since the start of the war in February last year, the White House has sent Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, Howitzer artillery pieces, anti-ship missiles and HIMARS systems, after initially refusing to do so.
Russia has stayed silent on the matter so far today, but given Putin and Dmitry Leskov’s nuclear warnings in the past, a fiery response is expected.
