The Trump administration has lifted a major restriction on Ukraine’s ability to use Western-supplied long-range missiles, enabling Kyiv to expand strikes on targets inside Russia.
The move comes as Russia has continued massive air barrages on Ukraine’s civilian population — directly contradicting President Putin’s claims he made to President Trump of wanting peace.
The U. S. move is aimed at pressuring the Kremlin toward peace talks, U.S. officials confirmed Wednesday to The Wall Street Journal.
The shift allows Ukraine to employ British-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles — which can travel over 180 miles — for cross-border attacks.
The change followed a transfer of authority from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to U.S. European Command chief Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, who also serves as NATO commander.
Ukraine used a Storm Shadow missile Tuesday to hit a Russian rocket fuel and explosives plant in Bryansk, calling it a “successful hit” that penetrated Russian air defenses.
The strike marks a renewed phase in Ukraine’s ability to reach deep into Russian territory and disrupt key military industries.
President Trump, who initially considered supplying U.S. Tomahawk missiles but later withdrew the offer, has pushed to use increased battlefield pressure as leverage for peace negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The White House said Trump’s goal remains “to stop a war that never would have happened if he had been president.”
While not a “game changer” militarily, officials say lifting the restriction significantly broadens Ukraine’s operational flexibility.
Combined with new European and domestic missile systems, Kyiv is expected to intensify its campaign against Russian logistics and defense targets until Moscow agrees to meaningful ceasefire talks.
Putin has again rebuffed Trump’s push for a ceasefire and peace negotiations — a stark reversal from earlier this month, when the Kremlin leader signaled openness to talks after meeting Trump in Alaska.
Instead of de-escalation, Moscow has dramatically intensified air and missile strikes against Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure, including power grids and housing complexes.
Ukrainian officials say the renewed onslaught has caused hundreds of deaths and massive destruction in Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Odesa in just the past week.
In the immediate aftermath of the Alaska summit, Kremlin spokesmen suggested Russia might consider a pause in major operations if Washington limited certain weapons deliveries to Kyiv.
But within days, intelligence and satellite imagery showed Russia mobilizing additional aircraft and missile systems near Belgorod and Kursk, followed by a wave of large-scale bombardments on Ukraine’s energy sector.
“President Trump made an honest effort to stop the killing,” one senior U.S. official told Newsmax. “But Putin interpreted that restraint as weakness and doubled down on terror bombing.”
Trump himself expressed visible frustration last week, telling reporters that a follow-up peace summit in Budapest would be a “waste of time” given Moscow’s current posture.
Zelenskyy had complied with Trump’s call for a unilateral ceasefire earlier this month, ordering his forces to pause offensive drone strikes on Russian oil and energy sites.
While Trump had publicly floated the idea of sending U.S. Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine — a step that would significantly extend Kyiv’s strike range beyond 1,000 miles — he has since decided to withhold them in an effort to maintain leverage with Putin.
Even without Tomahawks, analysts say Ukraine’s growing use of Storm Shadows — coupled with newly authorized European and domestically produced systems — could tilt the battlefield balance.
Ukraine is also completing final testing of the Flamingo, its own long-range strike missile, a system reportedly capable of reaching deep inside Russian territory.
The Flamingo cruise missile, called the FP-5, is believed to have a range of over 1,800 miles and can carry a massive warhead.
The new cruise missile is set to be an advanced production and could be deployed soon, as early as the end of this year.
Unlike Western-supplied weapons, the Ukrainian-made missile will operate without U.S. restrictions on targeting.
“Ukraine has shown it can hit legitimate military targets deep in Russia,” NATO spokesman Col. Martin O’Donnell said. “It does not need our permission to defend itself.”
European leaders issued a joint statement Tuesday with Zelenskyy, vowing to “ramp up pressure on Russia’s economy and defense industry until Putin is ready to make peace.”
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