Washington, DC—President Joe Biden has lifted restrictions on Ukraine using weapons supplied by the United States against targets on Russian territory, but only to defend the under-fire Kharkiv region, US officials said Thursday.
Biden has come under increasing pressure from a desperate Ukraine to ease his ban, but had so far resisted amid fears it could drag NATO into direct conflict with Moscow.
“The president recently directed his team to ensure that Ukraine is able to use US-supplied weapons for counter-fire purposes in the Kharkiv region so Ukraine can hit back against Russian forces that are attacking them or preparing to attack them,” a US official said on condition of anonymity.
“Our policy with respect to prohibiting the use of ATACMS or long range strikes inside of Russia has not changed,” the official said, referring to long-range missiles recently sent by Washington to Kyiv.
A second US official confirmed Biden’s change of policy.
In related developments:
A new Pentagon report says Russia is using North Korean ballistic missiles in Ukraine, citing debris analysis to confirm long-standing allegations that Pyongyang has been sending weapons to Moscow.
The report by the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency used open-source imagery to confirm that debris found in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region in January this year is from a short-range ballistic missile made in North Korea.
“Analysis confirms that Russia used ballistic missiles produced in North Korea in its war against Ukraine,” the DIA said in a statement released with the report on Wednesday.
“North Korean missile debris was found throughout Ukraine,” it added.
South Korea accuses Pyongyang of sending thousands of containers of munitions to Russia, which would violate rafts of United Nations sanctions on both countries.
The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this month denied the allegations that Pyongyang is shipping weapons to Russia, calling the claim “absurd”. AFP
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been pressing Kyiv’s supporters — chiefly the United States — to allow it to use the longer-range weaponry they supply to hit targets on Russian soil.
In Stockholm, Ukrainian President Zelensky arrived in Sweden to appeal to his country’s allies in northern Europe to supply his struggling military with more weapons.
Zelensky has been touring European capitals in recent days to appeal for more military aid for the Ukrainian army, which has been ceding ground to relentless Russian attacks in recent weeks.
“Today I am in Stockholm for the third Ukraine-Northern Europe summit,” Zelensky said in a statement on social media.
“Our top priorities are to ensure more air defence systems for Ukraine, joint defence industry projects, and weapons for our warriors, as well as global efforts to force Russia to make peace,” he added.
He said he would meet leaders from Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway and sign several bilateral security agreements.
“Ukraine will grow stronger as a result of the support of our principled and consistent allies, as well as new security agreements,” the Ukrainian leader said.
Some countries including Britain and the Netherlands say Kyiv has the right to use their weapons to strike military targets in Russia.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had hinted on Wednesday that Biden could change course.
Blinken said the United States had “adapted and adjusted” as the “battlefield has changed,” as he spoke to reporters on a visit to Moldova on the eve of NATO talks in Prague.
Blinken, who traveled Kyiv earlier this month to see the increasingly grave situation as Russia pushes forward towards Kharkiv, had been widely reported to be pressing Biden to ease the rules.
Ahead of the NATO meeting, which starts with a dinner on Thursday, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg said repeatedly it was time for members to reconsider those limits because they hampered Kyiv’s ability to defend itself.
French President Emmanuel Macron appeared to shift the dial forward on Tuesday when he said Ukraine should be allowed to “neutralize” bases in Russia used to launch strikes.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, however, remained less sure, saying Ukraine should act within the law — and Berlin had not supplied weapons that could hit Russia anyway.
Pressure has also been mounting ahead of a series of key meetings in Europe in coming weeks where Kyiv’s plight will be in focus.
Biden will attend ceremonies in France marking the World War II D-Day landings in early June where Ukraine’s Zelensky will also be present.
The US president will also meet leaders of the world’s top economies at the G7 summit in Italy. AFP
