US officials say the US cannot supply Ukraine with more missiles to maintain a ‘healthy reserve’

The US can no longer supply Ukraine with many long-range missiles because it needs to maintain a “healthy reserve” to counter other threats, including a possible war with China, US officials said.

They said that given rising tensions around the world, the US and NATO must maintain missile readiness in case “fighting breaks out in either Europe or Asia”.

An unnamed Pentagon official told the New York Times that Ukraine would be better off investing in its long-range drone program, which has already hit airfields, radar stations and oil refineries as far away as Siberia.

The warning about missile deliveries comes at a time when Joe Biden is deciding whether to allow Ukraine to fire Western-made missiles, including British Storm Shadow missiles, at Russia.

After meeting with Sir Keir Starmer at the White House on Friday, Biden said he had not yet made a final decision. “We are working on it right now,” he said earlier this week.

During their meeting, the two leaders also discussed the threat posed by Iran, which supplies Russia with short-range missiles in return for technical support. One topic of discussion was Moscow's possible support for Tehran's nuclear weapons program.

Authorization for attacks is unlikely to be given until “the first missile lands,” a Western official told PBS on condition of anonymity.

On the question of whether Ukraine could be granted permission to fire Western missiles at Russia, Russian government officials said they believed the decision had already been made.