US Blocks Ukraine Long-Range Missile Strikes on Russia

On Sunday, Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, insisted that Kyiv no longer had to rely on US approval to strike deep inside Russia, and had its own arsenal of long-range weapons.

“We haven’t been discussing such matters with the US lately,” he said at a joint press conference with Mark Carney, Canada’s prime minister, on Ukraine’s independence day in Kyiv. “At the moment, we are using our long-range domestically produced weapons.”

“It’s like a great team in sports that has a fantastic defence, but is not allowed to play offence,” he wrote on Truth Social. “There is no chance of winning!”

The US president added: “Crooked and grossly incompetent Joe Biden would not let Ukraine FIGHT BACK, only DEFEND. How did that work out?”

US officials told the WSJ that Mr Trump’s statement did not call the Pentagon’s approval process into question, but said it could imply increased US support for expanded offensive operations against Russia.

Speaking in Kyiv, Mr Carney said he would not rule out putting Canadian boots on the ground to protect a peace deal.

“In Canada’s judgment, it is not realistic that the only security guarantee could be the strength of the Ukrainian Armed Forces ... that needs to be buttressed and reinforced,” Mr Carney said.

“Italian soldiers in Ukraine? Absolutely not. If Emmanuel Macron wants it, let him go himself. Put on a helmet, take a rifle, and go to Ukraine yourself,” the populist politician said last week.

Johann Wadepul, Germany’s foreign minister, has also said that the country’s army was likely too stretched to send any troops to Ukraine.