Re: Biden secretly gave Ukraine permission to strike inside Russia with US weapons

On 2024-05-31, He forgot already <[email protected]> wrote:
> The Biden administration has quietly given Ukraine permission to strike 
> inside Russia — solely near the area of Kharkiv — using U.S.-provided 
> weapons, three U.S. officials and two other people familiar with the 
> move said Thursday, a major reversal that will help Ukraine to better 
> defend its second-largest city.
>
> “The president recently directed his team to ensure that Ukraine is able 
> to use U.S. weapons for counter-fire purposes in Kharkiv so Ukraine can 
> hit back at Russian forces hitting them or preparing to hit them,” one 
> of the U.S. officials said, adding that the policy of not allowing 
> long-range strikes inside Russia “has not changed.”
>
> Ukraine asked the U.S. to make this policy change only after Russia’s 
> offensive on Kharkiv began this month, the official added. All the 
> people were granted anonymity to discuss internal decisions that haven’t 
> been announced.
>
> In the last few days, the U.S. made the decision to allow Ukraine 
> “flexibility” to defend itself from attacks on the border near Kharkiv, 
> the second U.S. official said.
>
> In effect, Ukraine can now use American-provided weapons, such as 
> rockets and rocket launchers, to shoot down launched Russian missiles 
> heading toward Kharkiv, at troops massing just over the Russian border 
> near the city, or Russian bombers launching bombs toward Ukrainian 
> territory. But the official said Ukraine cannot use those weapons to hit 
> civilian infrastructure or launch long-range missiles, such as the Army 
> Tactical Missile System, to hit military targets deep inside Russia.
>
> It’s a stunning shift the administration initially said would escalate 
> the war by more directly involving the U.S. in the fight. But worsening 
> conditions for Ukraine on the battlefield –– namely Russia’s advances 
> and improved position in Kharkiv –– led the president to change his mind.
>
> The National Security Council did not immediately respond to a request 
> for comment.
>
> The Biden administration hinted that a decision had either been secretly 
> made or forthcoming in recent days. On Wednesday, Secretary of State 
> Antony Blinken, who supports a restriction lift, became the first U.S. 
> official to publicly hint that Biden may shift course and allow such 
> strikes, telling reporters that U.S. policy toward Ukraine would evolve 
> as needed. White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby 
> later did not rule out a potential change.
>
> Those messages came after top U.S. allies, such as the United Kingdom 
> and France, said Ukraine should have the right to attack inside Russia 
> using Western weapons. Lawmakers from both parties also supported the 
> move publicly and privately, while top U.S. military officials briefed 
> Congress behind closed doors that relaxing the restriction had “military 
> value,” POLITICO first reported.
>
> The Russian embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
>
> Some officials are concerned that Ukraine, when it attacks inside Russia 
> using its own drones, has hit military targets unrelated to Russia’s 
> invasion. The U.S. has strongly delivered the message that Kyiv must use 
> American weapons only to directly hit Russian military sites used for 
> its invasion of Ukraine, but not civilian infrastructure.
>
> Ukrainian officials, from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on down, have 
> pushed for the Biden administration to change its policy ever since 
> Russia launched a large assault on Kharkiv. For weeks they’ve said an 
> inability to attack Russian troop positions over the border complicated 
> Ukraine’s defense of Kharkiv and the country writ large.
>
> In a discussion with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday, 
> Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov made a “hard push” to use U.S. 
> weapons in Russia, according to a person with knowledge of the call.
>
> Nahal Toosi contributed to this report.
>
> https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/30/biden-ukraine-weapons-strike-russia-00160731

Joe Biden is about to start WW3.

-- 
Charlie Glock
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms"
-  Thomas Jefferson 1776