Biden partially lifts ban on Ukraine using US weapons for strikes on Russian territory

U.S. President Joe Biden approved Ukraine's use of U.S. weapons to launch strikes in Russia solely to defend Kharkiv, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter.

The decision, first reported in Politico, comes as Ukrainian officials make growing calls to Washington, demanding that its forces be allowed to defend against attacks originating from Russian territory.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue, stressed that U.S. policy calling on Ukraine not to use long-range missiles and other U.S.-supplied munitions to offensively strike the The interior of Russia remains unchanged.

Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, is just 20 kilometers from the Russian border.

Russia strengthens its military presence in the Kharkiv region

Ukraine's army chief has warned that Russia is increasing its troop concentration in the Kharkiv region, where Moscow's forces made significant advances during their spring offensive.

Oleksandr Syrskyi said on his Facebook page on Thursday that Russia was sending military units from other regions of Ukraine to the Kharkiv region to supplement forces in the two main centers of fighting, the cities of Vovchansk and Lyptsi.

Syrskyi said Ukraine had also deployed reserve troops to the region.

A long delay in U.S. military aid and insufficient military production in Western Europe have slowed crucial deliveries to Ukraine on the battlefield, and Russia has exploited these delays to advance in the Kharkiv region.

Russian missiles and bombs also hit Ukrainian military positions and civilian areas, including the civilian power grid.

Blinken condemns Russian disinformation efforts

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday criticized Russian attempts to sow discord in democracies through disinformation, after suggesting that the Biden administration could soon allow Ukraine to use US-supplied munitions. United to strike in Russia.

In Prague, for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, Blinken denounced Moscow's use of disinformation, calling it “poison” and signing an agreement with the Czech government to combat it.

He also visited a Czech military base, where he saw armored vehicles that Prague is sending to kyiv to help fight the Russian invasion, and was briefed on the Czech initiative to provide Ukraine with one million cartridges by the end of the year.

“We know that a major front in the competition that we have, in the conflictual relations that we have, particularly with Russia, is on the information front,” Blinken said.

Blinken made the remarks during a signing ceremony with Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky, who noted that Czech authorities had recently denounced a major Russian-backed disinformation campaign.

“We are facing a confrontation between democracies and autocracies,” Lipavsky said. “The Kremlin has begun targeting democracies around the world with cyberwarfare, propaganda and influence operations and this danger simply cannot be underestimated any longer.”

Other NATO leaders authorize Ukrainian attacks on Russia

Several NATO governments publicly argue that Ukraine should be allowed to attack Russian territory with weapons supplied by its Western allies, marking what could be a major shift in the bloc's policy toward the conflict.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that his country believes Ukraine “has a clear right under international law to attack Russia inside Russia in the defense of its territory.

Eide's Danish counterpart, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, told reporters in Brussels on Thursday that his country would also accept the use of Western weapons against Russian targets “within the rules of war.”

Earlier this week, French President Emmanuel Macron and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Western countries should not object if Ukraine were to strike inside Russia to defend itself.

France is also expected to announce that it will send military instructors to Ukrainian training centers.

In Moldova on Wednesday, Blinken said U.S. policy on how Ukraine deploys U.S. weapons was constantly evolving, suggesting Washington could repeal an unwritten ban on Ukraine's use of such weapons for attacks. on Russian territory.

Although U.S. officials insist there is no formal ban, they have long made clear that they believe the use of U.S. weapons to attack targets in Russia could provoke an escalation of Moscow's response, which that Russian President Vladimir Putin promised.

This position appears to be reconsidered.

Reports indicate that the United States is close to signing a new bilateral security agreement with Ukraine in a bid to improve relations, which have suffered in recent months after US aid was effectively cut off.