US President Joe Biden gave Ukraine permission to attack inside Russian territory with American munitions. Use has been restricted so that Kiev can only strike near-border targets after Russia made significant advances around the city in the northeastern part of the country near the Russian border, two U.S. officials 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 that Ukraine can strike back at Russian forces attacking them or preparing to attack them.” , said one of the authorities.
The loosening of restrictions marks a break with long-standing policy and comes in a context of growing international pressure from close US allies.
But it is limited to the area around Kharkiv, and Ukraine has not requested permission beyond that, the official said, adding that they do not anticipate the US expanding the permitted area.
Kiev made the request to Washington to change its policy only in recent weeks as Russian forces advanced, the official said. Russian forces, ammunition depots and logistics centers can now be targeted by US-supplied artillery and rockets across the Kharkiv border in western Russia.
The administration also remains steadfast in not allowing Ukraine to use the most formidable munition it has been given to fire on Russia: the long-range missiles known as ATACMS, which can hit targets 300 kilometers away.
Ukraine was authorized to use US anti-aircraft weapons to shoot down the imminent threat of Russian aircraft flying in Ukrainian and Russian airspace and did so successfully, the first official emphasized. But the ban prevented Ukraine from attacking Russian aircraft that are grounded inside Russia.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken publicly signaled a willingness to change the administration's tactics this week when he noted that the US could “adapt and adjust” its position.
A hallmark of U.S. support for Ukraine “has been adapting as conditions change, as battlefields change, as what Russia does changes in terms of how it pursues its escalation of aggression, so do we.” we adapt and adjust,” said Blinken, on a visit to Moldova.
“I’m confident we will continue to do so.”
The day before, the main European leaders signaled that they had changed their position.
Speaking at a press conference alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron highlighted that French weapons sent to Ukraine, including long-range missiles, were authorized to strike bases inside Russia.
“Ukrainian soil is being attacked from bases in Russia,” Macron said during a visit to Schloss Meseberg in Brandenburg, Germany.
“So how do we explain to the Ukrainians that we will have to protect these cities and basically everything we are seeing around Kharkiv right now if we tell them that they are not allowed to reach the point from which the missiles are launched?”
“We think we should allow them to neutralize the military sites from which missiles are fired and, basically, the military sites from which Ukraine is attacked,” Macron continued.
Germany's Scholz echoed Macron's comments and said Ukraine was authorized to defend itself as long as it respected the conditions given by the countries that supplied the weapons – including the United States – and international law.
The initial limits barring Ukraine from firing on Russian territory with U.S. weaponry were rooted in the Biden administration's concerns about the escalation of the war.
While these concerns persist, the US changed its position after the Ukrainian government explicitly cited the need to defend Kharkiv, European allies began to change course, and the leadership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) quietly urged the US to allow such attacks.
Blinken visited Ukraine earlier this month and heard firsthand the Ukrainian request to pursue targets inside the Russian border. On that trip, Blinken reiterated that the US would ensure it put Ukraine in “a position where it can deter and defend itself against future attacks.”
“The US is feeling the weight of the argument,” a European diplomat said earlier this week, hoping that a change in US policy could be on the way.
In fact, the wheels were already in motion for Biden to change US policy when Blinken returned to Washington two weeks ago.
According to US officials, the Secretary of State signed off on a recommendation made to Biden by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff CQ Brown in the days after Russia launched its offensive against May 10th.
In a secure video conference on May 13, the trio heard pleas from their Ukrainian counterparts and determined that it made sense to lift U.S. restrictions so that Ukrainian forces could reach staging areas from which Russia launched its attacks on Kharkiv.
The head of US European Command, General Christopher Cavoli, was included in the conversation to help finalize the details.
But it would take until Thursday for the US decision to go through the system and take effect.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has also quietly urged the US and other nations to give Ukraine the capabilities it needs to pursue targets inside Russia, sources said.
Stoltenberg's repeated efforts behind closed doors did not immediately result in a change in US policy. But this week he made a point of speaking publicly about the benefit – and perhaps the need – of allowing Ukraine to defend itself without limits.
“Denying Ukraine the ability to use these weapons against legitimate military targets on Russian territory makes it very difficult for them to defend themselves,” Stoltenberg said last week.
Source: CNN Brasil
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