US President Joe Biden has authorized Ukraine to use long-range American missiles against military targets inside Russia, a US official told AFP on condition of anonymity on Sunday, marking a major policy shift long demanded by Kyiv.
The New York Times and The Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, first reported the change, saying it came in response to North Korea deploying troops to help Moscow’s war effort.
The US official who spoke to AFP confirmed the reports as accurate, while spokespeople for the State Department, White House and Pentagon declined to comment.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has consistently pushed for authorization from Washington to use the powerful Army Tactical Missile System, known by its initials as ATACMS, to hit targets inside Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that approval would mean that NATO was “at war” with his country—a threat he has made previously when Ukraine’s Western backers have escalated their military assistance to Kyiv.
The change in stance from the outgoing Biden administration was sparked by the arrival of North Korean troops in Russia, with Western intelligence reports suggesting around 10,000 are being deployed, the US newspapers said.
The decision comes as Biden prepares to hand over power to President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to bring the conflict to an end in “one day” in a negotiation that is expected to require Ukraine to relinquish territory.
US officials had previously said they believed the ATACMS missiles would make only a limited difference to Ukraine’s campaign, and they also wanted to ensure that Washington’s own stocks of the munitions were not depleted.
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