The US presidential administration is prepared to transfer advanced, long-range rocket systems to Ukraine as part of an expansion in weaponry sales.

The administration is considering providing the equipment to Ukraine as part of a broader package of military and security aid that may be disclosed as early as next week.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, President Volodymyr Zelensky, and other senior Ukrainian officials discussed the importance of providing Ukraine with long-range missile systems.

Officials claimed the Biden administration debated whether to transfer the systems for weeks because of worries voiced within the National Security Council that Ukraine may use them to launch offensive assaults within Russia.

Officials said the subject was at the top of the agenda during last week’s two White House meetings where deputy Cabinet members met to discuss national security policy. The issue at hand was the same one that the administration has been grappling with since the start of the war: whether delivering increasingly powerful weaponry to Ukraine will be seen as a provocation by Russia, prompting retribution against the US.

The HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket Weapon), a lighter wheeled system capable of firing many of the same types of ammunition as the MLRS, is another system Ukraine has requested.