The directive represents a shift in policy, but it could escalate tensions with the Kremlin, which has been threatening retaliatory measures.
US President Joe Biden has eased the ban on Ukraine’s use of US weapons inside Russian territory to help the country defend the northeastern Kharkiv region from any attack.
Several US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told several media outlets on Thursday that Kiev would be allowed to use weapons on the border of the Kharkiv region, which came under renewed Russian attack earlier this month.
The decision represents a shift in the policy of Biden, who refused to allow Kiev to use American weapons outside Ukraine’s borders, and comes at a time when France and other European countries indicated that he would allow Ukraine to use its weapons against military targets inside Russia.
Amid the controversy, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Tuesday of “serious consequences,” stressing his country’s nuclear power, if Ukraine’s Western allies eased their policy.
There was no immediate comment from Moscow on Biden’s decision, according to which Kiev is allowed to strike military targets on the border with the Kharkiv region, where Russia has invaded a number of villages since May 10, leading to the evacuation of thousands of residents.
“The President recently directed his team to ensure that Ukraine is able to use U.S.-supplied weapons for fire control purposes in the Kharkiv region so that Ukraine can respond to Russian forces that are attacking them or preparing to attack them,” a U.S. official said. He told Reuters, Agence France-Presse and Associated Press news agencies. This change was first reported by online media outlet Politico.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Kiev’s allies to allow it to use their long-range weapons to strike targets on Russian territory amid a surge in attacks this month, especially on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) away. From the border with Russia.
A Russian attack at midnight (21:00 GMT) killed at least three people and injured 16 after a Russian missile hit a residential building in the city. Last weekend, 19 people were killed after a Russian attack on a major hardware store.
“The Biden administration has come a long way from its excessive sensitivity and misunderstanding of the risk of escalation,” said Alexander Vindman, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and former director of European affairs at the White House National Security Council during the Trump administration. Reuters News Agency.
He praised Biden’s policy shift, which he said “unties Ukraine’s hands.”
“Of course, this is the right move,” Vindman said.
The Biden administration has shown a pattern of initially rejecting Ukraine’s request and eventually capitulating because of facts on the ground, said David DeRoches, a specialist on US defense policy at the Center for Near East and South Asia Security Studies.
“There is another dynamic here,” he told Al Jazeera. The Ukrainians have attacked Russia’s nuclear infrastructure with their weapons. They have just destroyed Krasnodar’s early warning radar with a home-made drone; This is very far within Russia. Early this year, they attacked the strategic site [Engels] Bombing base… Ironically, allowing Ukraine to strike inside Russia within this limited tactical operation – the price for this is stopping Ukrainian strikes on Russia’s strategic capabilities.”
The United States is the largest arms supplier to Ukraine in its battle to repel the Russian army, which began a full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.
Biden’s decision came hours after NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told the alliance’s foreign ministers that “the time has come” to ease restrictions on Kiev on the use of weapons and “enable the Ukrainians to truly defend themselves.”
“We have to remember what it is,” he said. He added: “This is an aggressive war launched by Moscow by choice against Ukraine.”
Stoltenberg added that the right to self-defense “also includes striking legitimate military targets outside Ukraine.”
The officials said Washington would continue to prevent Ukraine from using ATACMS systems, which have a range of up to 300 kilometers (186 miles), and other long-range U.S. weapons to launch attacks deep into Russia.
Moscow is using missile launchers and other military sites within its border with Ukraine to support its offensive in the Kharkiv region, while fighter jets have been used to launch glide bombs into Kharkiv itself, which was home to about 1.5 million people before the war. .
Ukraine’s top military commander, Oleksandr Sirsky, said on Thursday that Russia is moving additional regiments and brigades to the north of the Kharkiv region, directly across the border.
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