Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly explained the need for Ukraine to deliver long-range strikes to neuter Russia’s ability to bombard Ukrainian cities.
“He [Zelenskyy] has privately conveyed his concerns to us, and he has certainly conveyed his concerns to everyone publicly…,” journalist Alex Raufoglu quoted Kirby in a Twitter post.
“… and we understand why he's doing that: his country's under attack. But as I've said many, many times, we'll keep the conversations with the Ukrainians going, but we're going to keep it private, and I have no changes to our policies with respect to U.S. weapons to speak to today.”
Kirby described Russia’s massive missile strike on the Ukrainian power grid on Aug. 26 as a “classic move” by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. He added that the United States intends to ensure that Ukraine has "the most reliable and advanced air defense capabilities possible."