The decision was reportedly “secretly” communicated to Kiev well before it was officially confirmed. A U.S. official told CNN: “The president recently directed his team to ensure that Ukraine is able to use U.S. supplied weapons for counterfire purposes in Kharkiv so Ukraine can hit back at Russian forces hitting them or preparing to hit them.”
According to Politico, Ukraine asked the U.S. to change its stance on this matter after Russia’s offensive on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-biggest city, got underway this month. The U.S. has now agreed to give Ukraine some “flexibility” in defending itself from attacks on the border.
The decision will allow Ukrainian forces to employ long-range weapons supplied by the U.S. to attack part of Russian territory near the border with the Kharkiv region. For example, they can now use rockets and rocket launchers provided by the U.S. to shoot down Russian missiles that are launched toward Kharkiv and at troops that are amassing across the Russian border near the city, as well as Russian bombers who send bombs toward Ukrainian territory.
However, Ukraine will not be permitted to use the weapons for launching long-range missiles to hit military targets deeper within Russia or to hit civilian infrastructure. An official said that they did not expect the U.S. to broaden the area in which this type of weapon use is allowed.
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The Biden administration had been giving some indications that this shift was coming, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken telling reporters earlier in the week that Biden’s policy toward Ukraine could evolve as needed. Then, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby failed to rule out a potential change to this policy.
However, the U.S. remains steadfast in its refusal to let Ukraine use one of the deadliest munitions it has supplied Kiev for firing into Russia: the long-range ATACMS missiles that can hit targets as far as 200 miles away.
Policy shift could lead to dramatic escalation
This marks a significant shift from the administration's original position that such action would escalate the war by getting the U.S. more involved. Although this remains a big concern, the president reportedly changed his mind as conditions for Ukraine on the battlefield grow increasingly bleak and Russia continues to advance.
The decision has upset Kremlin officials. Senior Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia wasn’t bluffing when it mentioned potentially using tactical nuclear weapons against Kiev and that the conflict with the West could lead to a full-blown war.
Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned there would be “serious consequences” if Ukraine’s allies in the West relaxed their policies, and he took the opportunity to emphasize Moscow’s nuclear strength to drive the warning home.
Several U.S. allies, including France and the United Kingdom, have maintained that Ukraine should be allowed to attack inside Russia with western weapons. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has been pushing the U.S. and other countries to give Ukraine the power to pursue targets inside Russia, and this week, he took his pleas from closed-door efforts to the public, asserting: “To deny Ukraine the possibility of using these weapons against legitimate military targets on Russian territory makes it very hard for them to defend themselves.”
After insisting for so long that the U.S. would not back down on this matter, one has to wonder just how big of a role Biden's hopes of holding onto the presidency as the election draws closer played in his sudden change of heart.
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