Pressure is building on President Joe Biden, including from within his own party, to loosen the restrictions on Ukraine’s use of US-provided weapons to strike deep inside Russia.
Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen on Wednesday became the latest senior lawmaker to call for the restrictions to be lifted, saying in a statement to CNN that “in light of Putin’s increasingly horrific attacks on civilian targets, it’s time to lift restrictions on the use of long-range U.S.-provided weapons to allow Ukraine to reach high value Russian military targets.”
“On the expectation that the Ukrainian government has demonstrated how these new authorities fit within its broader campaign strategy, I hope that the Biden Administration will swiftly grant these permissions to the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” the New Hampshire Democrat said.
An aide to the senator told CNN that they are hopeful that Shaheen’s public call for the restrictions to be lifted will be impactful as the administration weighs the option.
“As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, Appropriations Committee and Armed Services Committee, the Senator’s voice on this issue lends itself to show that there is political cover for making this sort of announcement,” the aide explained.
Congress weighing in is “a really important element for the administration,” the aide noted. “They need to hear from Democrats and Republicans that they support this decision, because it does have implications also for the appropriators and authorizers.”
