By The Moscow Times | Created at 2024-11-17 19:00:30 | Updated at 2024-11-17 21:54:11
3 hours ago
U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has for the first time authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-made long-range weapons against Russia, The New York Times reported Sunday, citing anonymous U.S. officials.
The major policy change follows months of appeals from Kyiv and has the potential to profoundly change the shape of the war. Moscow has repeatedly warned the West against allowing Ukraine to strike at targets deep inside Russia, with President Vladimir Putin warning this would put NATO "at war" with Moscow.
According to The New York Times, Ukraine is likely to use the Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, system to defend its troops against Russian and North Korean forces in Russia's Kursk region, where Kyiv has held territory since launching a bold cross-border incursion in early August.
The newspaper's sources said that the Biden administration's move is a response to Russia's deployment of North Korean troops to the Kursk region.
"One of the goals of the policy change, they said, is to send a message to the North Koreans that their forces are vulnerable and that they should not send more of them," The New York Times wrote.
However, U.S. officials cited by NYT said they do not expect the policy change to fundamentally alter the course of the war.
Biden's move comes two months before the inauguration of his successor, President-elect Donald Trump, whose vows to limit U.S. aid to Ukraine have led many in Kyiv to worry about the future of support from its top backer.
Kyiv wants more flexibility to hit Russian airfields and other military targets further from the front lines that it says are crucial to Moscow's invasion.
Washington currently authorizes Ukraine to only hit Russian targets in the occupied parts of Ukraine and some in Russian border regions directly related to Moscow's combat operations.
This story is being updated.
AFP contributed reporting.
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