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US will send advanced rocket systems to help Ukraine defend itself

The US will send Ukraine highly advanced rockets to help it defend itself, President Biden has announced.

Weapons, long demanded by Ukraine, to help him defeat enemy forces more accurately from a distance.

To date, the US had rejected the request out of fear that the weapons could be used against Russia for its purposes.

But on Wednesday, Mr Biden said the dangerous assistance would strengthen Kyiv’s position of negotiations with Russia and lead to a solution for officials.

Writing in the New York Times, he said: “That is why I have decided that we will provide the people of Ukraine with the most advanced rockets and weapons that will enable them to score important goals on the battlefield in Ukraine.”

This is a good measure of equality for Mr Biden, as the supply of more powerful weapons could risk the US and its NATO allies in direct conflict with Russia.

The new weapons will include the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), the White House chief executive – though it has not been specified how many of them will be provided.

Systems can launch precise targeted arrows at targeted locations up to 70km (45 miles) farther away than the current Ukrainian artillery. It is also believed that they are more accurate than their Russian standards.

Last month, a Ukrainian military official said acquiring HIMARS units would be “important” to allow him to deal with Russian missiles.

The US expects Ukraine to use weapons in the eastern region of the Donbas, where fighting is rampant, and where it could be used to strike Russian troops with troops targeting Ukrainian cities.

White House officials agreed to hand over the rockets, saying, only after receiving confirmation from President Volodomyr Zelensky that the weapons could not be used in the Russian offensive.

“We will not send rockets to Ukraine that could attack Russia,” Mr Biden wrote on Wednesday.

The latest rockets will be the backbone of Ukraine’s $ 700m (£ 556m) funding package that will be officially launched on Wednesday, White House officials said.

Helicopters, anti-tank weapons, tactical vehicles and spare parts will be included in what will be the 11th package of US-sanctioned military aid to Ukraine since the start of the attacks in February.

In Wednesday’s article, Mr Biden wrote that the US intention was to see Ukraine “democratic, independent, and independent”, not to remove Mr Putin from his post as Russian president or to seek a general confrontation with Moscow.

He blamed Russia’s continued violence for the peace process, adding that the US would never put pressure on Ukraine to ratify any of its territories in order to end the conflict.

Speaking specifically about the dangers of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine, Mr Biden said “there are currently no indications” of Russia’s intentions – but warned that doing so would not be acceptable and would have “serious consequences”.

Shortly after Mr. Biden’s article was published, Russian military officials announced that nuclear forces were conducting tests in the Ivanovo region near Moscow, Interfax reported.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Western countries of “confusing Ukrainian nationalists with weapons” and said any weapons heading to Ukraine would be a legal victim in Moscow.

The department said Nato countries were “playing with fire” by sending weapons to Ukraine.

Meanwhile in Ukraine, fighting continues in the eastern region of Donbas.

On Tuesday, the governor of Luhansk said that one of the last places in Ukraine to participate in the region – the eastern city of Severodonetsk – is now under the control of Moscow.

Russian troops now occupy almost all of Luhansk and are focused on capturing neighboring Donetsk, the two regions that make up the Donbas jointly.

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