Recently, Ukraine has been using domestically produced weapons to strike Russia and has not coordinated its attacks with the United States.
President Volodymyr Zelensky stated this at a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Kyiv.
"Today we use our domestically produced long-range weapons. And we have not been discussing such issues with the US lately," he noted.
The President added that the United States was sending "different signals" regarding Ukrainian strikes on Russia in response to their attacks on our energy sector.
"Today we donʼt even mention it, for me it [information about blocking hits] is news," he noted.
The Wall Street Journal on August 23 reported on a previously unannounced procedure by the US Department of Defense that leaves it up to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to make the final decision on whether Ukraine can use the ATACMS system to strike Russia.
According to journalists, the Pentagon has not authorized such attacks since at least the spring. The veto was imposed because the White House was trying to persuade the Kremlin to start peace talks. Two officials said that at least once Ukraine tried to use ATACMS against a target in Russia, but was denied.
This mechanism, according to the WSJ, was developed by the US Deputy Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby. He had previously tightened control over additional ammunition for Ukraine.
The June memorandum he wrote classifies American arsenals into “red”, “yellow”, and “green” categories. Red and yellow include weapons that are assessed as scarce. They now require explicit approval from Hegseth before they can be sent elsewhere. For example, interceptor missiles for Patriot air defense systems fall into the “red” category.
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