Ukraine's Zelenskiy presses US to greenlight deeper strikes into Russia

Kyiv (Reuters): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy increased pressure on the United States to let Kyiv strike military targets deep inside Russian territory after his representatives met senior U.S. officials in Washington on Saturday.

Washington has provided Ukraine with more than $50 billion worth of military aid since 2022, but has limited the use of its weapons to Ukrainian soil and defensive crossborder operations.

Zelenskiy said guided aerial bombs killed six people and injured 97 in Kharkiv on Friday, with more attacks on Saturday. These could be averted only "by striking Russian military airfields, their bases, and the logistics of Russian terror."

In his nightly video address, he said, "We talk about this every day with our partners. We persuade. We present arguments."

He said that clearing the Ukrainian sky of Russian guided aerial bombs would be "a strong step to force Russia to seek an end to the war and a just peace."

Appealing to the United States, Britain, France and Germany, he said, "We need the capabilities to truly and fully protect Ukraine and Ukrainians.

"We need both the permissions for long-range capabilities and your long-range shells and missiles."

Without providing specifics, he said his representatives had "provided all the necessary details" to Ukraine's partners.

Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, in Washington with a delegation on Friday and Saturday to meet U.S. officials and experts, said in an interview broadcast by CNN that Kyiv was showing Russian airfields used to hit Ukrainian cities were within range of deep strikes.

"We have explained what kind of capabilities we need to protect the citizens against the Russian terror that Russians are causing us, so I hope we were heard," Umerov said in the interview late on Friday.

Zelenskiy is expected to deliver a similar plea in person next month, when he will present a plan for victory to President Joe Biden near the end of his time in the Oval Office, and attend United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York.

Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, who headed Kyiv's delegation, said in a post on X that she had discussed the steps needed to restore Ukraine's energy system, including a "significant contribution" being made by an $800 million energy sector financing package that was announced in June.

Russian air strikes have affected more than half of Ukraine's power infrastructure, she said.

The president's chief of staff Andriy Yermak joined Umerov in briefing U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about the situation on the battlefield in the first meeting of their visit on Friday, the presidential office said in a statement.

Speaking at the end of a week when Russia hit Ukraine with more than 400 missiles and drones, Yermak said it was important for Ukraine to receive weapons from existing defence packages as soon as possible, the office said.