By Alex Marquardt, Jennifer Hansler and Kylie Atwood, CNN
President Joe Biden has authorized Ukraine to attack Russia’s internal territory with U. S. ammunition, even though he has limited its use so that Kyiv can only hit targets beyond the border near Kharkiv after Russia made significant advances around the city in the northeast. part of the country near the Russian border, two US officials told CNN on Thursday.
“The president recently directed his team to ensure that Ukraine uses U. S. -supplied weapons for counterattack purposes in Kharkiv, so that Ukraine can retaliate against Russian forces that are attacking them or preparing to attack them,” one of the officials said. saying.
The easing of restrictions marks a break with long-standing policy and comes amid growing foreign tension from close U. S. allies. But it is limited to the domain around Kharkiv, and Ukraine has asked for permission beyond that limit, the official said, adding that it does expect the United States to expand the allowed domain.
On Friday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken demonstrated that the resolution was adopted following a request from Ukraine.
“In recent weeks, Ukraine has come to us and asked for permission to use the weapons that have been provided to protect itself from this aggression” near Kharkiv, “including Russian forces massing on the Russian side of the border,” Blinken said. he said at a news conference in Prague.
The most level-headed U. S. diplomat said the request was made to Biden and that he approved its use for this purpose.
Asked if the door was open for the U. S. to allow Ukraine to attack Russia further, Blinken said the U. S. would continue to “adapt and adjust” in the future.
“We have to make sure that we are doing it in a planned and effective way,” he said.
Politico was the first to break the news.
Kyiv has asked Washington to replace its policy in a few weeks as Russian forces advance, the official said. Russian forces, ammunition depots and logistics centers can now be targeted with U. S. -supplied artillery and rockets across the border from Kharkiv in western Russia.
The government is also sympathetic in not allowing Ukraine to use the most powerful munitions it has been given to fire at Russia: the long-range missiles known as ATACMS, which can hit targets 200 or 300 kilometers away.
Ukraine was allowed to use U. S. anti-aircraft weapons in the face of the imminent risk of Russian aircraft flying in Ukrainian and Russian airspace, and it did so successfully, the first official stressed. But the ban has prevented Ukraine from attacking Russian planes that are on the ground. In Russia.
Blinken publicly signaled his willingness to replace the administration’s tact this week when he noted that the U. S. could simply “adapt and adjust” its stance.
One of the hallmarks of the U. S. for Ukraine “has been to adapt as situations have changed, battlefields have changed, what Russia is doing has changed in terms of proceeding with its escalation of aggression, we have adapted and adjusted as well,” Blinken said. “I’m sure we’ll continue to do that. “
The day before, Europe’s top leaders signaled that they had their position.
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke at a news conference on Tuesday alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and said French weapons sent to Ukraine, in addition to long-range missiles, could target bases in Russia.
“Ukrainian soil is being attacked from bases in Russia,” Macron said during a stopover at Meseberg Castle in Brandenburg, Germany. “So how do we tell the Ukrainians that we’re going to have to protect those cities and pretty much everything that we see right?now in Kharkiv, if we tell them that they are not allowed to reach the point from where the missiles are launched. ” Shot?”
“We believe that we allow them to neutralize the army sites from where the missiles are fired and basically the army sites from where Ukraine is attacked,” Macron continued.
Germany’s Scholz echoed Macron’s comments, saying that Ukraine allowed itself to protect itself as long as it complied with situations imposed through weapons-supplying countries (including the United States) and foreign laws.
The initial limits preventing Ukraine from firing on Russian territory with U. S. weapons were based on the Biden administration’s considerations of an escalation of the war. While those considerations persist, the U. S. replaced its position after the Ukrainian government explicitly raised a desire to protect Kharkiv, European allies began to replace tactics, and NATO leaders quietly suggested the U. S. allow such attacks.
Blinken visited Ukraine earlier this month and heard firsthand the Ukrainian request to strike targets inside the Russian border. During the trip, Blinken reiterated that the U. S. would like Ukraine to be placed in a “position where it can be deterred and protected against long-term attacks. “attacks. “
“The U. S. is feeling the weight of the argument,” a European diplomat said earlier this week, awaiting a response in U. S. policy.
In fact, things were already in motion for Biden to replace U. S. policy when Blinken returned to Washington two weeks ago. According to U. S. officials, the secretary of state agreed to advice that had been made to Biden through National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff C. Q. Brown in the days following the Russian offensive introduced on May 10.
In a secure video conference on May 13, the trio listened to calls from their Ukrainian counterparts and decided it made sense to lift U. S. restrictions so that Ukrainian forces could attack the spaces from which Russia was launching its attacks. The head of the U. S. European Command, Gen. Christopher Cavoli, was invited to take part in the verbal exchange to help finalize the details.
But we will have to wait until Thursday for the American resolution to make its way through the formula and enter into force.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also quietly suggested to the United States and other countries that they give Ukraine the functions it wants to achieve goals in Russia, the resources said.
Stoltenberg’s repeated efforts behind closed doors did not immediately result in a change in U. S. policy. But this week he made it a point to speak publicly about the merit – and perhaps the necessity – of allowing Ukraine to protect itself without limits.
“Denying Ukraine the ability to use such weapons against valid targets of the army on Russian territory makes it very difficult for it to protect itself,” Ukraine said last week. Stoltenberg.
This story has been updated with more details.
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