US President Joe Biden has approved Ukraine’s deployment of US-provided long-range missiles to attack Russia.
The decision, a significant shift in US policy, has been confirmed by a US official to CBS, the BBC’s US partner.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has been calling for the lifting of the ATACMS missiles’ limits for months in order to enable Kyiv to launch attacks outside of its own territory.
He responded to the claims on Sunday by stating that “missiles speak for themselves, such things are not announced.”
According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, such a step would amount to the NATO military alliance’s “direct participation” in the conflict in Ukraine, and he has repeatedly cautioned Western countries against it.
He was yet to comment on Sunday’s reports although other senior Kremlin politicians described it as a serious escalation.
Washington’s decision on ATACMS is couched in terms of being limited to the defence of Ukrainian forces inside Russia’s Kursk region, where Kyiv launched a surprise incursion in August.
In effect, the Biden administration is telling Ukraine that it will support its efforts to hold onto the small chunk of Russian territory it currently occupies, as a powerful bargaining chip for any possible negotiations in the future.
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Source: BBC“Biden Approves Ukraine Missile Strikes on Russian Territory Amid War”
