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But on May 14, on a trip to Kyiv, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, appeared to signal a more relaxed position than before. He said he thought it was up to the Ukrainians to decide how to use the long-range systems.
The US Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, appeared to contradict Blinken when he said a week later that “our expectation is that they continue to use the weapons that we’ve provided on targets inside of Ukraine”. But his choice of words led some commentators to speculate that there might be exceptions.
As if to confirm this, Austin mentioned the problem of Russia’s air and glide bomb attacks from bases inside the Russian border.
As the New York Times recounted, he told journalists: “The aerial dynamic’s a little bit different … And so – but again, don’t – don’t want to speculate on any – any one or – or any type of engagement here at the podium, so…” When pressed, according to the New York Times, Austin did not respond.
By the end of May, the US position had shifted. On May 30, a US official briefed: “The president recently directed his team to ensure that Ukraine is able to use US weapons for counter-fire purposes in Kharkiv so Ukraine can hit back at Russian forces hitting them or preparing to hit them”.
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