President Joe Biden offered an additional measure of clarity about how Ukrainian forces can use weapons inside Russia’s borders, telling ABC News they won’t be used to strike the Russian capital of Moscow.
Sitting for a recent interview with ABC News that’s set to air in full on the evening June 6, Biden took questions about his administration’s stance toward Ukrainian forces using donated weapons to strike Russia.
ABC News host David Muir specifically asked the president whether Ukrainian forces had already hit Russia with U.S.-donated weapons after the Biden administration signaled support for such strikes. Biden reportedly avoided providing a precise answer to that question but reiterated the Ukrainian forces have some level of sign-off to attack inside Russia.
“They’re authorized to be used in proximity to the border when they’re being used on the other side of the border to attack specific targets in Ukraine,” Biden said. “We’re not authorizing strikes 200 miles into Russia and we’re not authorizing strikes on Moscow, on the Kremlin.”
Biden’s comment provides a new measure of clarity about how Ukrainian forces can employ U.S.-donated weapons.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has recently called on his backers in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to loosen the rules of engagement and allow Ukrainian forces to strike across the border into Russia. Leaders of some NATO nations have begun to sign off on such strikes, but Biden and other heads of NATO states have waivered on the idea.
Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Prague, Czech Republic that the Biden administration had heard calls from Zelenskyy “for the authorization to use weapons that we’re providing to defend against this aggression, including against Russian forces that are massing on the Russian side of the border and then attacking into Ukraine.” Blinken then said Biden had “approved the use of our weapons for that purpose,” but provided few additional details about the degree of latitude the Biden administration had given Ukraine with it’s donated weapons.
FreeBase News reached out to the U.S. State Department for more details about how Ukrainian forces were being advised to used donated weapons. A department spokesperson responded on background to say “the president recently directed his team to ensure that Ukraine is able to use U.S.-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.” The spokesperson then said, “Our policy with respect to prohibiting the use of [the MGM-140 ATACMS tactical ballistic missile system] or long range strikes inside of Russia has not changed.”
Biden’s ABC News interview comments suggest Ukrainian forces may be able to choose targets several dozen miles inside Russia’s internationally recognized borders, even if they aren’t targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin or his government offices directly.
Putin has issued recent warnings that Russia could view Ukraine’s NATO supporters as direct belligerents in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict if they permit Ukraine to use their donated weapons to strike inside Russia’s borders.
Speaking to reporters during a May 28 visit to Uzbekistan Putin said, all NATO members “should be fully aware of what’s at stake.” He said many of the European NATO members in particular “are small and densely populated countries, which is a factor to reckon with before they start talking about striking deep into the Russian territory.” He went on to add, “If Europe were to face those serious consequences, what will the United States do, considering our strategic arms parity?”
This article was originally published by FreeBase News and is reprinted with permission.
