Russia Will Not Remain Silent If Ukraine Uses US ATACMS Missiles to Attack Its Territory

Illustration of the US Army ATACMS MGM-140 missile launch exercise. (Wikimedia Commons/Sinthia Rosario)

JAKARTA - The Kremlin spokesman said on Wednesday that Russia would make what he called an "appropriate response" if the United States allows Ukraine to launch attacks deep into its territory with long-range ATACMS missiles.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Washington had apparently decided to allow Ukraine to use the weapons for long-range strikes inside Russia.

Moscow would give an "appropriate" response if that happened, he said, but added that "there is no need to expect a response everywhere," Reuters reported on September 11.

"For all these actions, the SMO (special military operations) is the answer," Peskov said, using the Kremlin's preferred term for the Ukraine conflict.

"Each of these decisions, taken by the West collectively and then attributed to Ukraine, is an additional confirmation of the justification, necessity, and inevitability of the SMO," he continued.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly urged the West to allow his forces to use its long-range weapons to attack Russia.

ATACMS launch from M270 MLRS. (Wikimedia Commons)

Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky again expressed his hope that the restrictions would be lifted in order to force Russia to make peace. He made the remarks at a meeting of the Ramstein Contact Group, an official gathering of allies supporting Ukraine, held at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

"We need to have these long-range capabilities not only in the occupied Ukrainian territory, but also in the Russian territory, yes, so that Russia is motivated to seek peace," President Zelensky said.

Washington has previously been reluctant to supply Ukraine with long-range weapons to strike targets inside Russia, fearing that such a move could escalate the conflict that has been going on since February 2022.

Kyiv's other allies have supplied the weapons, but with restrictions on how and when they can be used inside Russia, fearing that such an attack could trigger retaliation that would draw NATO countries into the war or provoke a nuclear conflict.

However, sources told Reuters last week that the United States was close to reaching a deal to provide the weapons to Ukraine. However, Kyiv had to wait several months because the US was resolving technical issues before the shipment.

Most recently, President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that his administration was "working on it" when asked if he would lift the ban on Kyiv's use of missiles such as ATACMs.