President Biden will allow Ukraine to use US weapons for attacks inside Russia

2024-11-18 19:28:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

President Joe Biden's administration has lifted restrictions that prevented Ukraine from using U.S. weapons to carry out strikes deep into Russian territory, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters news agency, a significant shift in U.S. policy. United States regarding the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Even the Associated Press news agency announced that for the first time President Biden has approved the use of American long-range weapons in Russia.

Ukraine plans to carry out its first long-range strikes in the coming days, the sources told Reuters, without giving details due to concerns over the security of the operations.

The White House declined to comment.

The US decision, about two months before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20, comes after months of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy demanding that his country's military be allowed to use US weapons to hit Russian military targets located far from the border.

The policy change follows the deployment of North Korean troops to assist Russian forces, a development that has alarmed Washington and Kiev.

The first depth strikes are likely to be carried out using ATACMS missiles, which have a range of up to 306 km, according to the sources.

While some U.S. officials have expressed skepticism about whether allowing long-range strikes would succeed in changing the trajectory of the war, the decision could help Ukraine at a time when Russian forces are making advances on the ground and perhaps put Kiev in a better position. good negotiator in case of ceasefire talks.

It is not clear whether President-elect Trump will reverse President Biden's decision when he takes office. Mr Trump has criticized the scale of financial and military aid the United States has given to Ukraine and has vowed to end the war, without explaining how.

A spokesman for President-elect Trump did not respond to a Reuters request for comment, but one of his closest foreign policy advisers, Richard Grenell, criticized the decision.

"Escalation of war before leaving office," Mr. Grenell wrote on the X network.

However, some elected Republicans in Congress have asked President Biden to loosen the rules on Ukraine's use of weapons supplied by the United States.

Russia has warned that easing restrictions on the use of American weapons by Ukraine would represent a major escalation./ VOA