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US President Joe Biden (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP)
- Ukraine may use American-supplied weapons to strike insider Russian territory.
- That policy change came recently, US officials said.
- The relaxation is only around Kharkiv.
US President Joe Biden has quietly allowed Kyiv to fire US-supplied weapons at targets inside Russia but only near the border with the area around Ukraine’s northern city of Kharkiv, US officials said on Thursday.
The decision amounts to a policy shift by Biden, who until now steadfastly refused to let Ukraine use American weaponry for strikes inside Russia.
“The President recently directed his team to ensure that Ukraine is able to use US-supplied weapons for counter-fire purposes in the Kharkiv region so Ukraine can hit back against Russian forces that are attacking them or preparing to attack them,” said one US official.
Russia’s embassy in Washington and Russia’s mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
NATO allies have been calling on the US to allow Ukraine to use Western weapons against missile launchers and other military sites inside Russia that are supporting a cross-border offensive that Moscow launched toward Kharkiv this month.
Russian fighters flying inside Russia have been backing the drive by launching glide bombs at Kharkiv and Ukrainian defense lines.
Word of Biden’s decision broke shortly after the Pentagon said the US policy against use of US weapons inside Russia had remained unchanged.
“The security assistance that we provide Ukraine is to be used within Ukraine. And we don’t encourage attacks, or enable attacks, inside of Russia,” said Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had hinted on Wednesday that Biden could change course on the previous prohibition on striking targets within Russia.
Blinken said the United States had “adapted and adjusted” as the “battlefield has changed,” as he spoke to reporters on a visit to Moldova on the eve of NATO talks in Prague.
Blinken, who traveled Kyiv earlier this month to see the increasingly grave situation as Russia pushes forward towards Kharkiv, had been widely reported to be pressing Biden to ease the rules.
Ahead of the NATO meeting, which starts with a dinner on Thursday, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg said repeatedly it was time for members to reconsider those limits because they hampered Kyiv’s ability to defend itself.
French President Emmanuel Macron appeared to shift the dial forward on Tuesday when he said Ukraine should be allowed to “neutralize” bases in Russia used to launch strikes.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, however, remained less sure, saying Ukraine should act within the law — and Berlin had not supplied weapons that could hit Russia anyway.
– Additional reporting by AFP
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