WSJ: Pentagon prevents Ukraine from attacking Russian territory
Aug 24, 2025
Kyiv [Ukraine], August 24: The Pentagon is said to have prevented Ukraine from using US missiles to attack targets inside Russian territory in order to persuade the country to negotiate peace.
The Wall Street Journal on August 23 quoted US officials as saying that the Pentagon had quietly prevented Ukraine from using the US-made Army Tactical Missile System ( ATACMS ) to attack targets inside Russian territory.
At the end of his term last year, then-US President Joe Biden reversed a longstanding policy by allowing Ukraine to use ATACMS against targets inside Russia. Previously, the US had been wary of such a move for fear of escalating the conflict.
As the White House seeks to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to join peace talks, the Pentagon has set up an approval process aimed at preventing Ukraine from striking deep into Russian territory, according to The Wall Street Journal .
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has the final say on the use of long-range weapons.
Ukraine , the White House and the Pentagon have not commented on the information.
The news comes as US President Donald Trump has become increasingly frustrated with the three-and-a-half-year conflict and his failure to reach a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
After a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and subsequent meetings with European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky failed to make significant progress, Trump said on August 22 that he was reconsidering imposing economic sanctions on Russia or withdrawing from the peace process.
"I'm going to make a decision about what we're going to do and it's going to be a very important decision, whether we're going to impose very strong sanctions or very strong tariffs or both, or we're going to do nothing and say it's your war," Trump said, adding that he was "not happy about anything" about the conflict.
According to The Washington Post , President Trump said he would give Mr. Putin time to decide to meet Mr. Zelensky and if no meeting took place, "I will see whose fault it is."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told NBC News on August 22 that there was no agenda for a meeting with Mr. Zelensky and no meeting had been scheduled.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
