Joe Biden is nearing a decision on sending long-range missiles to Kiev

Potentially opening another chapter in US military support for Ukraine more than a year and a half into Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country.

The US has long been wary of Ukraine’s request to supply it with so-called ATACMS, a tactical ballistic missile with a range of up to 300km, over concerns about limited stocks and whether it could be used to strike Russian territory, escalating the conflict.

But in recent months, as the war has dragged on and Ukraine has tried to regain territory in the southern and eastern regions of the country, the US has been considering the step. The UK and France have already sent their own long-range missiles to Ukraine this year.

“We’re not taking anything off the table. We don’t have a decision to announce on new capabilities but our position all along has been we will get Ukraine the capabilities that will enable it to succeed on the battlefield,” Jon Finer, the deputy national security adviser, told reporters as Biden travelled from New Delhi to Vietnam on Sunday.

“A decision could be coming soon,” one senior Biden administration official had said on Saturday.

Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, told the Financial Times that he was confident the US would agree to send ATACMS.

“Yes, we are talking about it . . . In every conversation with [US national security adviser] Jake Sullivan this question arises,” Yermak said in an interview in the presidential palace in Kiev. “They understand [ATACMS] are very much needed. I believe it will be agreed and very, very soon.”

Biden has faced mounting pressure from both sides of the political spectrum in the US Congress to approve the transfer of the long-range missiles to Kiev.