Zelenskyy holds a phone call with Biden, ATACMS on the agenda
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a telephone conversation about Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East with US President Joe Biden on the evening of Thursday, 19 October.
Source: Zelenskyy on Twitter (X), as reported by European Pravda
Details: Zelenskyy thanked Biden "for the effective implementation of our latest defense agreements", including the ATACMS long-range missiles the US supplied to Ukraine.
"Ukrainians are greatly encouraged by the delivery of ATACMS, and our warriors are putting them to good use on the battlefield," Zelenskyy added, without elaborating.
Zelenskyy also mentioned US Special Representative Penny Pritzker’s recent visit to Kyiv, which marked the beginning of the countries’ talks on ways to use frozen Russian assets, and the recent legislation on Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) passed by the Ukrainian parliament.
The two leaders also discussed the escalation in the Middle East and Biden’s visit to Israel "aimed at seeking peace and protection of civilian lives".
Background:
- On the night of 17 October, Ukrainian troops deployed ATACMS missiles to attack helicopters and equipment belonging to the Russian occupying forces at air bases near the occupied cities of Berdiansk and Luhansk.
- The White House later confirmed Ukraine has received long-range ATACMS missiles in a modification that has a range of 165 kilometres.
- The New York Times reported that the US sent about 20 ATACMS missiles to Ukraine. One of the conditions for the delivery was that they would not be used for attacks on Russian territory.
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