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Military operation in Ukraine

Ukraine not to target Russia should it obtain long-range weapons, Zelensky claims

He debunked a remark made by a reporter that Ukraine is running out of common weapons

KIEV, June 14. /TASS/. Ukraine does not intend to target Russian territory, should it receive long-range Western weapons, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky claimed, speaking to Danish reporters via video conference Tuesday.

"No," Zelensky said, answering a question if Ukraine is ready to shell targets in Russia, should the West ship weapons with range of over 100 kilometers, adding that he is speaking about shelling of civilian targets.

The President explained that there are areas in Ukraine, where Ukrainian forces are concentrated more than 100 km away from Russian forces.

"We need corresponding weapons in order to reduce this distance, which means we need weapons that work at such distance," Zelensky said.

He debunked a remark made by a reporter that Ukraine is running out of common weapons.

"I don’t know where you got such information that we run out of common weapons, it is not true," he claimed. "We have enough weapons, but we don’t’ have enough weapons that work at a distance that we require in order to overcome Russia’s technical advantage. We do not have enough armored vehicles," the Ukrainian President added.

In early June, US authorities announced a new aid package for Ukraine, which includes HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems and ammunition for them. The first batch is supposed to include four launchers. Previously, the US Administration said that the HIMARS rockets to be shipped to Ukraine will have a range of under 80 km. The Administration claimed that Ukraine assured Washington that it will not use American-made systems to attack targets on the Russian territory. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said later that Kiev’s assurances are worth nothing and must not be believed.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in response to the aid request from the Donbass republics. After that, the US, the EU, the UK and a number of other states imposed large-scaled sanctions against Russia and ramped up weapons shipments to Ukrainian authorities.

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Vladimir Zelensky Military operation in Ukraine

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