The Pentagon, the headquarters of the US Department of Defense, has banned Ukraine from launching attacks inside Russia. The Pentagon has told Ukraine not to use US weapons if Ukrainian forces want to attack inside Russia.

The US media outlet Washington Post reported this information in a report citing the Ministry of Defense.

Incidentally, the United States provided Ukraine with long-range ATACMS missiles towards the end of President Joe Biden's term last year. However, it also stipulated that the Ukrainian military must obtain permission from the US military command to use these missiles.

The Washington Post reported, citing the US Department of Defense, that Ukrainian forces have requested permission to use ATACMS missiles to strike inside the Russian mainland several times in the past three to four months, but US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and US military command have never granted permission.

Several senior Trump administration officials said that the administration under President Donald Trump is not allowing the Ukrainian military to launch an attack inside Russia for two reasons - first, Donald Trump himself is in favor of reducing the level of conflict and second, the Trump administration is currently giving top priority to ending the Russia-Ukraine war. In this situation, if Ukraine launches an attack inside Russian territory, all efforts to end the war will fail.

After years of tension over Ukraine's refusal to recognize the Crimean peninsula in the Black Sea as Russian territory and Ukraine's application for membership in the Western military alliance NATO, Russian forces launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, which is still ongoing. The war, which has been going on for the past three and a half years, has already claimed millions of lives on both sides.

After taking office for a second term as US president in January 2025, Donald Trump said that he would prioritize ending the Russia-Ukraine war among international issues. Since last May, government representatives from Russia and Ukraine have been holding peace talks in Istanbul, mediated by Turkey, a key US ally.

In addition, after several phone conversations over eight months, Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the US state of Alaska on August 15. Three days after the meeting with Putin, Trump also met with Zelensky and European Union leaders at the White House on August 18.

After meetings with Putin, Zelensky, and European Union leaders, Trump said he was optimistic about an end to the Russia-Ukraine war soon.