Biden eases ban on Ukraine’s use of US weapons in Russia | News on the Russia-Ukraine war

The directive marks a policy shift but could potentially escalate tensions with the Kremlin, which has threatened retaliation.

US President Joe Biden has relaxed the ban on Ukraine using US weapons on Russian territory to help the country protect its northeastern Kharkiv region from attacks.

Several US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told several media outlets on Thursday that Kyiv would allow the use of the weapons on the border of the Kharkiv region, which came under renewed Russian attack earlier this month.

The decision represents a change of course by Biden, who had previously refused to allow Kyiv to use US weapons outside Ukraine’s borders. At the same time, France and other European countries indicated that Ukraine could also use its weapons against military targets inside Russia.

During the debate, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Tuesday of “serious consequences,” stressing his country’s nuclear strength, if Ukraine’s Western allies relaxed their policies.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow on Biden’s decision, which gives Kyiv permission to attack military targets on the border with the Kharkiv region, where Russia has overrun several villages since May 10 and forced thousands of residents to evacuate.

“The president recently directed his team to ensure that Ukraine has the ability to use U.S.-supplied weapons for counterfire in the Kharkiv region so that Ukraine can push back Russian forces that attack it or prepare to attack,” a U.S. official told Reuters, AFP and The Associated Press. The change was first reported by online media outlet Politico.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is urging Kyiv’s allies to allow him to use longer-range weapons to attack targets on Russian soil. This month, numerous attacks have taken place, particularly in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, about 30 kilometers from the Russian border.

At least three people were killed and 16 injured in a Russian attack at midnight (21:00 GMT) after a Russian missile struck a block of flats in the city. Last weekend, 19 people were killed in a Russian attack on a hardware store.

“The Biden administration has come a long way from its hypersensitivity and lack of understanding of the risk of escalation,” Alexander Vindman, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and former director for European affairs on the White House National Security Council under the Trump administration, told Reuters.

He welcomed Biden’s policy change, which he said “frees Ukraine’s hands.”

“Of course this is the right step,” said Vindman.

David Des Roches, a U.S. defense policy expert at the Near East South Asia Center for Security Studies, said the Biden administration is showing a pattern of initially rejecting Ukraine’s request and eventually giving in due to realities on the ground.

“There is a different dynamic here,” he told Al Jazeera. “The Ukrainians have attacked Russia’s nuclear infrastructure with their own weapons. They just damaged the Krasnodar early warning radar with a domestically produced drone; that is very far inland in Russia. Earlier this year they attacked the (Engels) strategic bombing base… Paradoxically, the price of allowing Ukraine to strike inside Russia in this limited tactical operation is a cessation of Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s strategic capabilities.”

The United States is Ukraine’s largest arms supplier in its fight to push back the Russian military, which began with a large-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.

Biden’s decision came hours after NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told the alliance’s foreign ministers that “the time has come” to ease restrictions imposed on Kyiv on the use of these weapons and “give the Ukrainians the opportunity to truly defend themselves.”

“We must remember what this is about,” he said. “This is a war of aggression against Ukraine that Moscow has deliberately started.”

The right to self-defense also includes attacking legitimate military targets outside Ukraine, Stoltenberg added.

The officials said Washington would continue to prohibit Ukraine from using ATACMS, which have a range of up to 300 kilometers, and other U.S. long-range weapons to launch attacks deep inside Russia.

Moscow is using missile launchers and other military installations just across its border with Ukraine to support its offensive in the Kharkiv region. It has also used fighter jets to drop glide bombs on Kharkiv itself. Before the war, the city had a population of about 1.5 million.

On Thursday, Ukraine’s top military commander Oleksandr Syrskii said Russia would deploy additional regiments and brigades to the north of the Kharkiv region, just across the border.