Pressure builds on Biden from within his own party to ease Ukraine strike restrictions

By Jennifer Hansler, Michael Conte and Kylie Atwood, CNN

(CNN) — 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.”

Democratic Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin released a statement earlier Wednesday calling for the restrictions to be eased, in light of “Vladimir Putin’s relentless attacks on Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure,” that he called “horrifying.”

“Given these escalating attacks, the time has come to ease restrictions on Ukrainian’s use of U.S.-provided weapons. Greater flexibility to target Russian military assets will degrade Moscow’s ability to harm the Ukrainian people. The United States must act swiftly to grant these permissions,” the Maryland Democrat wrote.

Cardin and Shaheen’s statements, released on the same day Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kyiv, added to a growing chorus of those calling Biden to allow Kyiv to strike deep within Russia. The Ukrainian government, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, has repeatedly been making the appeal.

Blinken and Zelensky discussed the restrictions during their meeting in Kyiv Wednesday. Blinken told reporters he would share that discussion with Biden.

“From day one, as you heard me say, we have adjusted and adapted as needs have changed, as the battlefield has changed, and I have no doubt that we’ll continue to do that as this evolves,” Blinken said at a news conference in Kyiv with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

Although the US has shifted its policy to allow limited cross-border strikes into Russia using US-provided weapons, the administration has yet to allow longer-ranger strikes. Officials have expressed concern about the potential for escalation and have argued that any one capability will be decisive in the war. A US official told CNN Tuesday that US intelligence shows that Russia has moved a number of assets outside of the reach of long-range strikes.

Asked about the concerns of escalation, Blinken said Wednesday that they are one factor, but “certainly not the only factor, and it’s not necessarily a dispositive factor.”

He also accused Russia of escalation with its acquisition of Iranian ballistic missiles.

“We’ve now seen this action of Russia acquiring ballistic missiles from Iran, which will further empower their aggression in Ukraine, so if anyone is taking escalatory action, it would appear to be Mr. Putin and Russia,” said Blinken.

Meanwhile, there is a growing chorus of voices in Washington calling for the restrictions to be lifted. On Tuesday, the bipartisan congressional Ukraine caucus called on Biden to allow Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia with the long-range weapons.

“Unless these restrictions are lifted, Ukraine will continue to struggle to achieve victory in its fight to defend its sovereignty and its people. The Ukrainian people will continue to suffer unnecessary death, loss, and hardship as Russia capitalizes on this policy and escalates its bombardments across Ukraine,” the bipartisan lawmakers wrote.

A group of key House Republican also urged Biden to ease the restrictions in a letter on Monday. In a separate open letter, 17 former national security officials, including former US ambassadors to Ukraine and top military commanders, called on Blinken and Lammy to “act with alacrity.”

“A change in policy cannot come soon enough,” they wrote.

On Tuesday, asked if the US will lift the restrictions, Biden answered, “we’re working that out right now.”

Two US officials later told CNN that the Biden administration is not anticipating any policy changes when it comes to lifting restrictions. Still, others have said that the debate over the matter is ongoing.

In Kyiv on Wednesday, Blinken vowed support for Ukraine’s victory as he sought to make the case that assistance for Kyiv will endure regardless of the outcome of the US election.

His comments stand in stark contrast to remarks from Donald Trump at Wednesday’s debate, where the former president repeatedly refused to say he was committed to Ukraine’s victory.

“The bottom line is this: we want Ukraine to win, and we’re fully committed to keep marshaling the support that it needs for its brave defenders and citizens to do just that,” the top US diplomat said at a news conference in Kyiv.

“Support for Ukraine will endure because it doesn’t depend on any one country, any one party, any one election,” Blinken added. He reiterated NATO’s commitment to Ukraine’s “irreversible path” to membership in the alliance.

Asked about Trump’s comments, Sybiha, the Ukrainian foreign minister, also downplayed them.

“We will, without a doubt, have a new president of the United States, but we believe in steadfast support from the US nation, the American nation. We believe strongly in bipartisan support, and we clearly believe, and we are convinced, that fair, comprehensive, sustainable peace in Ukraine is also a strategic interest for the United States of America,” he said via an interpreter.

Blinken announced significant new funding for Ukraine: “$325 million in new funding to help repair Ukraine’s energy and electric grid,” “$290 million in new humanitarian support to help provide vital services like safe drinking, water, food, shelter, medicine”; and “$102 million in additional funding in humanitarian demining.”

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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