Biden administration lifts ban on Ukraine firing US weapons into Russian territory

May 31 (UPI) — US President Joe Biden for the first time authorized the Ukrainian military to use US-supplied weapons for limited strikes against military targets on Russian territory that oppose an imminent threat as part of the Russian offensive in the northeast, American officials announced.

The lifting of the ban on the use of US weapons gives Ukrainian commanders in Kharkiv province permission to counterattack Russian forces just across the border, including through pre-emptive strikes, reports said. CBS News, The Washington Post and NBC News.

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“The president recently directed his team to ensure that Ukraine is able to use U.S.-supplied weapons for counterfire purposes in the Kharkiv region, so that Ukraine can retaliate against Russian forces that attack them – or prepare to attack them,” he added. a US official told CBS News.

An official told the Washington Post that Ukraine's military would be allowed to use U.S. weapons to “retaliate against Russian forces attacking them or preparing to attack them” near Kharkiv.

Ukraine remains barred from staging strikes deeper into Russia using US-made weapons such as Lockheed Martin's long-range military tactical missile system, a surface-to-surface weapon capable of striking targets well beyond the range of existing artillery, rockets and other missiles. .

“Our policy regarding prohibiting the use of [Army Tactical Missile System] or long-range strikes inside Russia have not changed,” the official told CBS News.

However, Russian military aircraft can still be targeted, with officials insisting there has never been a ban on Ukraine “shooting down a Russian plane over Russian soil that comes to attack them “.

There was no immediate comment from the White House or State Department.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's administration had been pushing for a policy change as more villages and towns fall to Russian forces advancing on Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city, knowing that the ban means Ukraine cannot retaliate.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken publicly raised the possibility of change during a visit to Moldova on Wednesday when he told a press briefing that the US had “adapted and adjusted” to changes on the battlefield and changes in the way Russia “pursued its aggression.” , escalation.”

“We have not encouraged or permitted strikes outside of Ukraine, but Ukraine, as I have said before, must make its own decisions on how best to defend itself effectively. We are going to make sure that she has the necessary equipment he must do it.

“Another hallmark of our support for Ukraine for more than two years has been adaptation,” Blinken said.

“As conditions have changed, as the battlefield has changed, as Russia has changed in terms of its continued aggression and escalation, we have adapted and adjusted as well, and I am confident that we will continue to do it. .

Washington's shift comes as more of its partners in Europe move toward abandoning their own bans on using their weapons against targets in Russia and turning toward the United States, as as greater military support for Ukraine, to take the lead.

Earlier this month, British Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said Ukraine had the right to attack targets on Russian territory and there were no restrictions on how it could use weapons supplied by the United Kingdom.

“Just as Russia is striking inside Ukraine, you can completely understand why Ukraine feels the need to make sure it defends itself,” he said during a visit in kyiv to honor Britain's commitment of $3.75 billion a year in military support “for as long as necessary.”

Cameron, however, did not explicitly authorize the use of British weapons to strike targets on Russian soil.

Britain has struck a deal with kyiv that its long-range Storm Shadow missile must only be used on sovereign Ukrainian territory – although it has been used to attack Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, as well as the Russian Black Sea Fleet based in Sevastopol.

Russia reprimanded Cameron for his May 2 comments, calling them “another, very dangerous assertion,” warning they risked widening the conflict.

“This is a direct escalation of tensions around the Ukrainian conflict, which could pose a threat to European security,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.