Washington, May 30 (EFE).- The Joe Biden administration has permitted Ukraine to strike inside Russia with US-supplied weapons, but only near the Kharkiv area, a US official confirmed to EFE on Thursday.
“The president recently ordered his team to ensure that Ukraine can use US-supplied weapons for counterattacks in the Kharkiv region so that Ukraine can counterattack Russian forces that are attacking them or preparing to attack them,” the official pointed out.
However, the policy related to prohibiting using ATACMS ballistic missiles or conducting long-range strikes inside Russia “has not changed.”
With this decision, the Biden administration has yielded to Ukraine’s request, which has been asking Washington for weeks to make this policy change, especially since the Russian offensive against Kharkiv began in May.
Therefore, Ukraine can now use US-provided weapons, such as rockets and rocket launchers, to shoot down Russian missiles launched towards this area, against troops concentrated just across the Russian border, or against Russian bombers dropping bombs on Ukrainian territory.
However, Ukraine cannot use these weapons to attack civilian infrastructure or launch long-range missiles, such as the Army Tactical Missile System, to target military objectives in central Russia.
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken became the first US official to publicly suggest that Biden might change course and allow such attacks, telling reporters that US policy towards Ukraine would evolve as necessary.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby later did not rule out a possible change.
These messages came after essential US allies, such as the United Kingdom and France, said Ukraine should have the right to strike within Russia using Western weapons.
On Thursday, Russia accused NATO of opening a new phase of tension in their turbulent relations by encouraging Ukrainian attacks on targets within Russian territory with Western armaments, a stance not unanimously supported within the allied bloc.
“The member countries of the North Atlantic Alliance – the United States in particular, other European capitals – have in recent days and weeks embarked on a new round of escalation. They are doing this deliberately… They are encouraging Ukraine in every possible way to continue this senseless war,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian press.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg urged giving the green light to Kyiv, a call backed up this week by France.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky considers it “unfair” that Kyiv cannot use Western weaponry to respond to Russia.
However, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo banned the head of state from using the F-16 fighter jets soon to be delivered to Kyiv. EFE
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