The U.S. Will Not Provide Ukraine with Advanced American Strike Drones, The Wall Street Journal Reports

“The White House will not provide Ukraine with American-made Gray Eagle MQ-1C strike drones,” reports The Wall Street Journal, citing sources close to President Biden's administration. Earlier, 17 congress members had called on the White House to provide Kyiv with the latest drones.

The publication notes that Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly requested the provision of Gray Eagle drones from the U.S. government.

According to The Wall Street Journal, representatives from the U.S. Department of Defense opposed the transfer of American drones to Ukraine, expressing concerns that such a move would escalate the conflict and could signal to Moscow that Washington is supplying Ukraine with weaponry capable of striking Russian territory.

Additionally, as per The Wall Street Journal, there were fears at the Pentagon that if American drones were shot down, certain highly classified modern technologies could become accessible to the Russians.