--- title: U.S.-Russia Tensions Rise With New Rockets For Ukraine description: How far can the U.S. go in providing military aid without escalating to open conflict with Russia? canonical: https://time.com/6183291/russia-tensions-rise-rockets-ukraine/ author: W.J. Hennigan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-06-02T00:04:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-14T09:36:04.525Z article:section: Politics og:title: U.S.-Russia Tensions Rise With New Rockets For Ukraine og:description: How far can the U.S. go in providing military aid without escalating to open conflict with Russia? og:url: https://time.com/6183291/russia-tensions-rise-rockets-ukraine/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7d660f983cba18c/698a3268b21a9c6553506179/AP22151780796821.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 6000 og:image:height: 3375 og:image:alt: Russia Ukraine War Arms Package og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: U.S.-Russia Tensions Rise With New Rockets For Ukraine twitter:description: How far can the U.S. go in providing military aid without escalating to open conflict with Russia? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7d660f983cba18c/698a3268b21a9c6553506179/AP22151780796821.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # U.S.-Russia Tensions Rise Amid Biden Decision to Send Rockets to Ukraine > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=9b2f83dd-87a7-4feb-9732-1d20bc9bcdb0&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Ukraine: A Glossary of Terms [Watch (HLS stream): Ukraine: A Glossary of Terms](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/OM8MLV7Y.m3u8) (5:41)  _Published 2022-03-15. When it comes to learning about the conflict in Ukraine, there are a lot of terms that get thrown around. Here are a few you should know._  by [W.J. Hennigan](https://time.com/author/w-j-hennigan/)  ## W.J. Hennigan Jun 2, 2022 12:04 AM UTC  by [W.J. Hennigan](https://time.com/author/w-j-hennigan/)  ## W.J. Hennigan Jun 2, 2022 12:04 AM UTC President Joe Biden’s decision Wednesday to provide Ukraine with advanced rocket systems that can strike targets from dozens of miles away gives Kyiv a new, much-needed advantage in their hard-fought war with Russia. After months imploring the U.S. to send long-range missiles, President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Ukrainian military will soon have a weapon with roughly twice the range of the current artillery pieces they are using to fight the better armed Russian troops that have invaded the eastern part of their country. Moscow has noticed. Speaking with reporters after the announcement Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman [Dmitry Peskov](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-crisis-kremlin-rockets/russia-says-u-s-is-adding-fuel-to-fire-by-supplying-ukraine-with-rockets-idUSKBN2NI2ZD) accused the U.S. of dangerously escalating the war, raising the specter not only of increased fighting in the country, but potentially spreading it beyond Ukraine’s borders. “The U.S. is deliberately and diligently pouring oil on the fire,” Peskov said. In fact, [the decision to provide](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/06/01/statement-by-president-joe-biden-on-additional-security-assistance-to-ukraine-2/) four U.S.-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) was debated for weeks before Biden felt comfortable to send the weapons, administration officials say. Even then, the president wanted multiple assurances from Ukraine, including from Zelensky himself, that HIMARS would be solely used as a defensive weapon and not fired into Russian territory, the [officials say](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2022/05/31/background-press-call-by-senior-administration-officials-on-u-s-security-assistance-to-ukraine/). As a safeguard, the rockets that the administration decided to provide have a maximum range of around 48 miles, the officials said, rather than more advanced HIMARS munitions, some of which can travel [up to 300 miles](https://asc.army.mil/web/portfolio-item/ms-himars-m142/). Such deliberation has become a recurring theme in the three-month-old fight. From the start, Biden has been pushed to send more and more shipments of sophisticated, American-made arms. Every few weeks, he faces the same dilemma: how far can the U.S. go to provide military aid without escalating to open war between its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies and Russia? Finding the right balance is the driving factor behind every aid decision inside the White House and Pentagon since Russian President Vladimir Putin’s order Feb. 24 to invade Ukraine, officials say. “We are mindful of the escalation risk,” Colin Kahl, undersecretary of defense for policy, told reporters at the Pentagon. “But in the first instance, we’re focused on what we think the Ukrainians need for the current fight.” **Read More:** [_TIME’s Interview with Volodymyr Zelensky_](https://time.com/6171279/volodymyr-zelensky-transcript/) Around 90% of the world’s nuclear warheads belong to Russia and the United States and these arsenals loom large as the Biden Administration seeks to keep pressure on Putin to stop his military campaign. The White House wants to maintain a posture that can prevent or limit escalation. “As much as I disagree with Mr. Putin, and find his actions an outrage, the United States will not try to bring about his ouster in Moscow,” [Biden wrote in an New York _Times_’ op-ed](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/31/opinion/biden-ukraine-strategy.html), explaining his decision. “So long as the United States or our allies are not attacked, we will not be directly engaged in this conflict, either by sending American troops to fight in Ukraine or by attacking Russian forces. We are not encouraging or enabling Ukraine to strike beyond its borders. We do not want to prolong the war just to inflict pain on Russia.” If Putin’s forces continue to be bogged down fighting a smaller, less capable Ukrainian army, many experts fear the danger of a wider, more catastrophic confrontation with the West will rise. Putin has repeatedly threatened the use of nuclear weapons in response for the U.S. backseat role in the war. It remains unclear what repercussions Ukraine faces if HIMARS rockets do strike Russia either accidentally or on purpose. Kremlin spokesman [Peskov told reporters](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-crisis-kremlin-rockets/russia-says-u-s-is-adding-fuel-to-fire-by-supplying-ukraine-with-rockets-idUSKBN2NI2ZD) Wednesday that Moscow doesn’t believe in Ukraine’s promises not to use the new weapons outside its borders. The White House has been forced to adapt its strategy at nearly every turn in the conflict. In March, the Biden Administration [postponed a long-planned military test launch](https://time.com/6154110/icbm-nuclear-test-russia/) of an intercontinental ballistic missile out of fears that Russia would see it as threatening. A week later, the U.S. rejected a proposal to provide the Ukrainian Air Force with 28 MiG-29 fighter jets for similar reasons. Throughout the war, Biden has restrained from engaging in tit-for-tat nuclear threats in response to Putin’s fiery rhetoric. At the same time, Washington and its allies have found ways to bolster Ukraine in its fight. At first, after Putin’s February 24 invasion, the U.S. and its European allies levied sweeping economic sanctions. Then they increased the quantity and quality [of arms](https://time.com/6166595/whats-in-bidens-800-million-military-aid-package-for-ukraine/) they provided Kyiv. As the weapons flows steadily increased, they began providing weapons-training to the Ukrainian military outside the country. The Biden administration has repeatedly insisted [U.S. troops will not fight in Ukraine](https://time.com/6151085/joe-biden-russia-ukraine-foreign-policy/), but the president has redoubled defenses in surrounding countries by moving roughly 14,000 troops eastward in Europe, principally in Poland to provide training and reassurance to allies. Ukraine is not a NATO member, but it borders four nations that are: Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. The U.S. and other NATO allies have pledged to protect their eastern and central European members under the alliance’s defining Article 5 mutual defense commitments. The U.S. is also placing any blame for escalation at Moscow’s doorstep. “The Russians can end this conflict anytime they want,” Kahl, the undersecretary of defense for policy, [told reporters](https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/3049912/dr-colin-kahl-under-secretary-of-defense-for-policy-holds-a-press-briefing/) at the Pentagon. “If they are wary of escalation, all it takes is one man to say stop. And they can do it.” Kahl said it will take around three weeks for the U.S. and NATO to train the Ukrainians on HIMARS. “It’s important for them to get trained on the systems to get familiar with the systems,” he said. “We will be in a position to rapidly surge additional munitions as appropriate if the battlefield evolves.” HIMARS is a wheel-mounted version of the track-mounted Multiple-Launch Rocket System (MLRS) that U.S. and NATO forces use in Europe. Each system fires six precision-guided rockets that will boost Ukraine artillery range by more than two-fold from the current 20 miles with the U.S.-provided M777 howitzers. This will be key in the Donbass where the war has become an artillery duel with the two nations exchanging fire each day. **Read More:** [_‘Hope Gives You the Strength to Act.’ Portraits of Russians Risking Everything to Support Ukraine_](https://time.com/6170850/russians-supporting-ukraine-portraits/) The Ukrainian military faces an escalating fight in the south and east against a much larger, more technologically advanced enemy. HIMARS will not alter that fundamental equation, Kahl said, but it will provide Ukraine with more capability to defend itself. “It’s a grinding conflict,” Kahl said. “No system is going to turn the war. This is a battle of national will.” The HIMARS announcement Wednesday came as part of a larger $700 million military aid package. The assistance includes a wide range of weapons systems for the Ukrainian military designed to help them fight off the superior heavy forces Russia is putting into the field. The transfer includes Mi-17 helicopters, advanced radar systems, Javelin missiles, and other anti-armor weapons. The weapons and equipment are being sent under a so-called “presidential drawdown authority,” which allows Biden to transfer the hardware from U.S. stocks without Congressional approval in order to speed up delivery in an emergency. The Pentagon has launched [around-the-clock supply missions](https://time.com/6163028/ukraine-aid-mission/), delivering eight to ten planeloads of anti-aircraft and anti-armor missiles, remote-controlled drones, rounds of ammunition and laser-guided rockets each day. Biden has now [committed](https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3049472/700-million-in-additional-security-assistance-for-ukraine/) $5.3 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since taking office last year. ## Transcript President Zelensky once again calling on NATO for a no-fly zone... totality of our economic sanctions... that you hear about the humanitarian corridor... When it comes to the conflict in Ukraine, there are a lot of terms that are being thrown around. Here are a few that you should know. Oligarchs are Russian businessmen, who amass wealth very quickly after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Most of them, through friendships and corruption, basically. They control different parts of the Russian infrastructure. So the Biden administration has developed a task force to go after property, such as yachts, and summer homes and things of this nature. And the hope is that this small group, relatively small group of men can apply some pressure to Vladimir Putin to make him stand down this war. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was started after World War Two. Its whole purpose was to stand against the Soviet Union. Nations like France, Britain, United States, they stood up this alliance, which it has a defining principle that, you know, attack against one is attack against all. One of the things that that Putin brings up when he has his list of complaints against the West, is the fact that, you know, Ukraine was being considered as becoming a member of the the NATO alliance. They're not, of course, and they haven't been brought in, but just the threat of that was enough for Putin to, you know, launch this assault into Ukraine. His big fear is that, you know, the alliance would pre-position military forces and capabilities along his border that would threaten the existence of Russia. Sanctions are measures like, hey, let's let's cut Russia off from the global banking system. That's one set of sanctions. Let's all agree not to buy Russian oil. It's a set of agreements between countries on one side of a conflict to kind of politically and economically ostracize a country that is a bad actor. Russia wants to decapitate the Government of Ukraine, they want to overthrow that government and install their own. And the way that they're applying that pressure is by going after major population centers. They've already launched over 600 missiles into major cities creating a humanitarian crisis. And seeing this, Ukraine has tried to cut a deal with Russia to be able to open up a number of corridors in which civilians are allowed to leave combat zones. Russia has already been seen to have violated this and to have targeted these areas. When we think of a nuclear weapon, we think of obliterating an entire city. Tactical nuclear weapons are designed to be more contained to a limited geography, to a smaller area of space. No army, no nation has ever used a tactical nuke in combat before. You know, the United States has said its nuclear umbrella extends to the NATO allies. Of course, Ukraine is not a NATO ally. But just a use of a nuclear weapon would demand that the United States would have to respond in some meaningful way. The United States has had air superiority over every war since World War Two. So the idea with a no-fly zone is that the United States does not allow another military to operate over a specific area. And if any aircraft breached that airspace, the United States or its allies would shoot down the enemy aircraft. This is off limits for the Biden administration because it puts American pilots in direct combat with Russian pilots, the risk of escalation and going into worldwide conflict grows exponentially greater. The United States has done no fly zones before, most recently in Libya, and also in Iraq. But the Air Force has they faced there were largely run down and much smaller numbers. So SWIFT is a messaging system that allows banks to communicate with each other about transactions that are being made. And by cutting Russia off from SWIFT, it means that people and organizations and banks inside Russia can no longer communicate with the outside banking world and complete transactions that are very important to to doing business in the country and doing business internationally. The Bayraktar drones are smaller drone systems that have their Turkish-made. And they've been used to devastating effect on Russian military. The Russian military has been stalled and they've encountered stiff resistance in almost every place that they've gone, you know, they're running out of fuel and food and the logistics problems that they've had, have basically made them sitting ducks they're stalled out. And these Turkish made drones have been, you know, perfect to hit those targets on the ground. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6183291/russia-tensions-rise-rockets-ukraine/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6183291/russia-tensions-rise-rockets-ukraine/"},"headline":"U.S.-Russia Tensions Rise Amid Biden Decision to Send Rockets to Ukraine","datePublished":"2022-06-02T00:04:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-14T09:36:04.525Z","description":"How far can the U.S. go in providing military aid without escalating to open conflict?","url":"https://time.com/6183291/russia-tensions-rise-rockets-ukraine/","keywords":["Ukraine","Military","Foreign Policy","Joe Biden","White House","National Security","Biden Administration"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7d660f983cba18c/698a3268b21a9c6553506179/AP22151780796821.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"W.J. 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