Nothing like trying to fight a war forced upon you with your hands tied behind your back.

That, of course, is what Washington has asked Ukraine to do through this and the last administration.

Supposedly, the Policy of this administration is to “stop the killing,” which might sound nice, but given its limits on Ukraine, it exposes the embarrassing fact that Putin has no intention of stopping this war, and the only way the killing will stop is if Russia is defeated.

And, over and over, the evidence has been clear that Ukraine could defeat Russia if its “supporters” would allow it to do so.

This is embarrassing.

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Pentagon Has Quietly Blocked Ukraine’s Long-Range Missile Strikes on Russia

The Defense Department has withheld approval for attacks as the White House has sought to entice Moscow to open peace talks.

By Alexander Ward, Michael R. Gordon Lara Seligman | Aug. 23, 2025 4:53 pm ET

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WASHINGTON—The Pentagon has for months been blocking Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles to strike inside Russia, U.S. officials said, limiting Kyiv from employing a powerful weapon in its fight against Moscow’s invasion.

A high-level Defense Department approval procedure, which hasn’t been announced, has prevented Ukraine from firing any U.S.-made long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems, or Atacms, against targets in Russia since late spring, the officials said. On at least one occasion, Ukraine sought to use Atacms against a target on Russian territory but was rejected, two officials said.

The U.S. veto of long-range strikes has restricted Ukraine’s military operations as the White House has sought to woo the Kremlin into beginning peace talks.

Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon’s undersecretary for policy, developed the “review mechanism” to decide on Kyiv’s requests to fire long-range U.S.-made weapons as well as those provided to Ukraine by European allies that rely on American intelligence and components.

The review gives Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth final say over whether Ukraine can employ the Atacms, which have a range of nearly 190 miles, to strike Russia.

“President Trump has been very clear that the war in Ukraine needs to end. There has been no change in military posture in Russia-Ukraine at this time,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “Secretary Hegseth is working in lockstep with President Trump.”

The Pentagon and Ukrainian officials didn’t return requests for comment.

Ukrainian infantry men in June were part of an attempt to stabilize the frontline amid a Russian offensive. Photo: Serhii Korovayny for Wall Street

The Pentagon’s approval requirement has effectively reversed a decision by former President Joe Biden in his final year in office to permit Ukraine to strike inside Russia with Atacms.

In a social-media post Thursday, Trump said that Ukraine couldn’t defeat Russia unless it could “play offense” in the war, which has lasted longer than three years following Moscow’s invasion.

“It is very hard, if not impossible, to win a war without attacking” the invading country, he wrote Thursday on social media. “There is no chance of winning!”

U.S. officials said Trump’s statement didn’t signal a policy change that would dispense with the Pentagon’s review mechanism or encourage Ukraine’s use of Atacms and other long-range Western systems. But a senior White House official said Trump could change his mind about facilitating expanded offensive operations against Russia.

As president-elect, Trump said it was “stupid” of Biden to allow Ukraine to attack inside Russia. “We’re just escalating this war and making it worse,” he said in a December interview with Time.

U.S. Atacms and other long-range weapons, such as Britain’s Storm Shadow cruise missile, haven’t been game-changers for Ukraine. But they have enabled it to threaten Russian command and control headquarters and airfields far from the front lines, as it presses its advantages in manpower, weaponry and resources.

The Pentagon review procedure also applies to Ukraine’s use of the Storm Shadow as it relies on U.S. targeting data, according to two U.S. officials and a British official. The British government declined to comment.

Trump has threatened to increase sanctions on the Kremlin and tariffs on its major trading partners unless Moscow agreed to a cease-fire. But a decision on that has been deferred following his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which the Kremlin chief convinced Trump he was serious about making peace.

Trump vowed in July to provide Kyiv with new weapons as long as Europe agreed to pay for them, a decision that came after a brief pause in U.S. arms shipments while the Pentagon examined whether there were shortfalls in its own stockpiles. Trump told reporters that month that “we’re not looking” to provide longer-range weapons to target Moscow.

While the U.S. hasn’t announced any plans to provide more of the missiles, other types of weapons that European governments are buying from the U.S. could help Ukraine within its own borders. They include air-defense systems and the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, which has a 90-mile range.

The administration this week approved the sale of 3,350 Extended Range Attack Munition air-launched missiles, or ERAMs, which are set to arrive in Ukraine in about six weeks, two U.S. officials said. The $850 million arms package, mostly funded by European nations and which includes other items, was delayed until after Trump’s summits with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Several U.S. officials said use of the ERAM, with a range between 150-280 miles, would require Ukraine to seek approval from the Pentagon. The State Department didn’t return a request for comment.

George Barros of the Institute for the Study of War, which closely monitors the Ukraine conflict, said Russian officials complained publicly about Atacms strikes against their territory since then, though they regularly did when attacks occurred in the past.

The Biden administration provided hundreds of Atacms to Ukraine starting in 2023. The restrictions on Atacms attacks inside Russia initially imposed under Biden were removed in the fall of 2024 after North Korean troops entered the war with Russia.

The last of the Atacms authorized to be sent to Ukraine by the Biden administration arrived during the spring, according to U.S. officials.

Ukraine has developed some of its own long-range weapons to strike targets inside Russia, specifically drones that it has used to strike Russian oil refineries and aircraft.

Zelensky said last week that his country was developing a new cruise missile—the Flamingo—that could be produced in significant quantities by the end of this year or early next year.

“Drones are great for certain things, but they have their own vulnerabilities too,” said James Townsend, who served as the top Pentagon official for NATO issues during the Obama administration, about the restrictions on use of Atacms. “You don’t want to limit the Ukrainian ability to put pressure on the Russians.”

In addition to requiring approval for missile attacks, Colby, the Pentagon’s third ranking official who has long been concerned about husbanding Pentagon resources to deter China, tightened control over additional munitions for Ukraine. In a June memo he established three categories—green, yellow and red—for assessing whether U.S. stockpiles of weapons were adequate to allow some to be shared with Kyiv.

The green category consisted of systems that the U.S. had in abundance and that could readily be provided to Ukraine, while yellow and red systems are in shorter supply. It gave Hegseth authority to reclaim weapon systems earmarked for Ukraine that fell in the yellow and red categories.

Write to Alexander Ward at alex.ward@wsj.com, Michael R. Gordon at michael.gordon@wsj.com and Lara Seligman at lara.seligman@wsj.com

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ROBERT MCCONNELL
Co-Founder, U.S.-Ukraine Foundation
Director of External Affairs, Friends of Ukraine Network

The text is Mr. McConnell’s and does not necessarily represent the views of the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation and/or the Friends of Ukraine Network (FOUN).

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