The US will not send Ukraine rocket systems that can reach into Russia, President Joe Biden said on Monday, as Ukraine pushes for longer-range weapons systems to help in its fight.
Ukrainian officials have been asking allies for longer-range systems, including the Multiple Launch Rocket System, or MLRS, that can fire a barrage of rockets hundreds of miles away.
"We're not going to send to Ukraine rocket systems that strike into Russia," Mr Biden told reporters after arriving back at the White House after a weekend in Delaware.
Mr Biden did not rule out providing any specific weapons system, but instead appeared to be placing conditions on how they could be used.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, said that it was a “reasonable” decision.
He said that “otherwise, if our cities come under attack, the Russian armed forces would fulfil (their) threat and strike the centres where such criminal decisions are made.”
Mr Medvedev added that “some of them aren’t in Kyiv" and said that “there is no need for a further explanation.”
Mr Biden and his team are working on a new package of military equipment and it is expected to be announced in coming days.
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Rescuers carry the body of civilian from a residential building damaged by shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Reuters -
Kharkiv, Ukraine's second city, is feeling the strain after coming under heavy Russian bombardment. Reuters -
Ukrainian troops help an elderly man out of a damaged apartment building after an air strike in the city of Slovyansk in Donbas region. AFP -
A school bus carrying Ukrainian refugees leaves Kharkiv. EPA -
The pain of war hits this woman hard shortly after her apartment building in Slovyansk was damaged by Russian shelling. AFP -
A crater scars the road surface in Slovyansk, Donbas. AFP -
A Russian soldier oversees the loading of steel on to a Russian ship at Mariupol port in Ukraine. AP -
European Council President Charles Michel, right, and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, left, talk before the second day's session of an extraordinary meeting of EU leaders to discuss Ukraine, energy and food security, in Brussels. AP -
Rescuers extinguish a fire at a meat factory, amid fighting in Mykolaiv, Ukraine. Reuters -
A man waits to collect water in Mariupol. AFP -
Ukrainians cross a makeshift bridge built next to a destroyed structure, in the Kharkiv region. EPA -
A destroyed tank in Mariupol. AFP -
People charge electronic devices outside a theatre building, in Mariupol. Reuters -
Pensioner Gennady Ivanov, 83, sits outside a residential building heavily damaged by shelling, in Mariupol. Reuters -
Ukrainian firefighters try to extinguish a fire at a house that was hit by Russian strikes, in Kharkiv. AP -
Russian Navy sailors of the Black Sea Fleet prepare to raise a sunken Ukrainian warship at the sea port, in Mariupol. AP -
A Ukrainian soldier in the city of Lysytsansk, in the eastern region of Donbas. AFP -
A boy, Yarik, plays in a playground in front a building destroyed during attacks, in Irpin. AP -
Two Ukrainian soldiers enjoy a tender off-duty moment near the village of Stoyanka, Kyiv region. GettyImages -
A girl in Kyiv looks at Russian weapons used in the attack on Ukraine. Reuters -
Children play on a destroyed car in a residential area of Mariupol. AFP -
Demonstrators hold Ukrainian flags at a charity telethon in support of Ukraine, in Berlin. Reuters -
Ukrainian servicemen near Zaytseve village in Donetsk, Ukraine. EPA -
A shell hole near a destroyed building in Zaytseve village. EPA -
In the Saltivka district of Kharkiv, writing on the vans reads "warning, shelling" and "warning, passing by for civilians is prohibited". AFP -
A heavily damaged residential building in the Saltivka district of Kharkiv. AFP -
Ukrainian servicemen inspect a Russian amphibious vehicle near Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine. AP -
A rocket launcher belonging to a "Donetsk People's Republic" militia is fired from its position not far from Panteleimonivka, eastern Ukraine. AP -
The damaged building of the economics department of Karazin National University in Kharkiv. AFP -
Karazin National University in Kharkiv came under heavy Russian bombardment. AFP -
Ukrainian troops approach a destroyed military vehicle in the village of Rus'ka Lozova, north of Kharkiv. AFP -
A bridge is a destroyed near Rus'ka Lozova, north of Kharkiv. AFP -
A building after a Russian military strike in the town of Marinka, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Donetsk region. Reuters -
An employee mows the lawn near a destroyed warehouse refrigerator, belonging to the Chanta factory, in Novi Petrivtsi, near Kyiv. AFP -
Defiant Ukrainian service members ride on top of a military vehicle, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, on the road connecting Kostiantynivka and Bakhmut, in Donetsk region. Reuters -
Vladimir Mihailovich, a solar plant manager, surveys a crater after the business in Merefa on the outskirts of Kharkiv was hit by Russian shelling. Reuters -
A KA-52 helicopter gunship fires rockets on a mission at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. AP -
Locals walk past a road damaged by shelling in a residential area in Kharkiv. EPA -
Diana, on the train, waves to her mother Viktoriya and sister Kseniya as she leaves Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine. AP -
Yana Skakova and her son Yehor, who fled from Lysychansk, sit in an evacuation train in Pokrovsk, eastern Ukraine. AP
The MLRS was under consideration, but nothing with long-range strike capabilities outside of battlefield use, a senior administration official said.
The Ukrainian government has urged the West to provide it with more longer-range weapons to turn the tide in the war, now in its fourth month.
Mr Biden wants to help Ukraine to defend itself, but has been opposed to providing weapons that Ukraine could use to attack Russia.
CNN and The Washington Post reported on Friday the Biden administration was leaning towards sending the MLRS and another system, the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, known as HIMARS, as part of a forthcoming military aid package.
Mr Biden's administration and US allies have been increasingly willing to give Ukraine longer-range weaponry, including M777 howitzers, as Kyiv battles Russian forces with more success than intelligence officials had predicted.
But US intelligence has also warned about growing risks, particularly given a mismatch between Russian President Vladimir Putin's apparent ambitions and the performance of his military.
Ukraine has started receiving Harpoon anti-ship missiles from Denmark and self-propelled howitzers from the US, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Saturday.
