U.S President, Joe Biden has allowed Ukraine to use some US-made weapons over one part of the Russian border.
“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.
However, limits on the use of US long-range weapons such as the army tactical missile system (ATACMS) will remain.
Biden agreed as long as the Ukrainian use of US weapons across the border was focused on and limited to the forces directly attacking them.
The statement suggests that the main impact of the policy change would be to allow Ukrainian US-supplied artillery to fire back at Russian batteries over the Russian border from Kharkiv region, which have had a devastating effect on Ukrainian defences around Kharkiv city.
The change will also allow the Ukrainian army to target concentrations of Russian forces massing on the border in Russia’s Belgorod region.
Biden’s decision followed calls from US allies in Europe, including the UK, Germany and France, and NATO Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg, for Ukraine to be able to use western-provided weapons against military targets in Russia.
The White House was also under pressure from Ukraine supporters in both parties in Congress.
Rob Lee, a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Eurasia program, said, “I think the immediate change is that Ukraine will be able to use HIMARS [high mobility artillery rocket systems], which means they can strike targets more effectively at greater depths.”
Alexander Vindman, a retired army Lieutenant Colonel and former Director for European affairs at the White House National Security Council under the Trump administration, applauded the shift in Biden’s policy, which he said “unties Ukraine’s hands.”
“Of course, it’s the right move,” Vindman added.
Also on Friday, government Spokesman, Steffen Hebestreit disclosed German government’s decision to give Ukraine permission to use weapons supplied by Germany against military targets in Russia,
Hebestreit told journalists that it follows weeks in which Ukraine has been attacked “particularly in the Kharkiv area by positions from the immediately adjacent Russian border area.”
The Spokesperson revealed that Germany discussed with allies the fact that Russia has carried out strikes on the Kharkiv region from positions in the immediately adjacent Russian border area, a government spokesperson said in a statement.
“We are jointly convinced that Ukraine has the right, guaranteed under international law, to defend itself against these attacks,” the spokesperson said.
The Spokesperson added, “It can also use the weapons supplied for this purpose in accordance with its international legal obligations; including those supplied by us.”
Russia Threatens To Destroy Weapons
Reacting to the news, Russian Security Council’s Deputy Chairman, Dmitry Medvedev posted on his Telegram channel that NATO countries that have approved strikes with their weapons on Russian territory should be aware that their equipment and specialists will be destroyed not only in Ukraine, but also at any point from where Russian territory is attacked.
He noted that the participation of NATO specialists could be seen as a casus belli.
Medvedev asserted that his country was not bluffing when it spoke of the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons against Ukraine and that its conflict with the West could escalate into an all-out war.
Medvedev said Moscow’s conflict with the West was developing according to the worst case scenario and that “no one can rule out it escalating to the last stage.”
Also, Andrei Kartapolov, the head of the Russian lower house’s defence committee, was reported by a Russian news agency as saying that Moscow will retaliate asymmetrically to Ukrainian attacks on its territory using weapons provided by the US.
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