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White House officials said the president’s main policy shift lasted only to what they called acts of self-defense so that Ukraine could simply Kharkiv, its second-largest city.
By David E. Sanger and Edward Wong
David E. Sanger, reporting from Washington, has covered the festival among the superpowers for three decades. Edward Wong, a journalist from Prague, has been working as a foreign correspondent for many years and travels with Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken.
President Biden, in a primary shift pushed by his advisers and key allies, has allowed Ukraine to make limited moves in Russia with U. S. -made weapons, opening what would possibly well be a new bankruptcy in the war for Ukraine, U. S. officials said Thursday.
Biden’s resolution appears to mark the first time a U. S. president has had limited legal military responses opposed to artillery, missile bases and command centers within the borders of a nuclear-armed adversary. However, White House officials insisted that the authorization extended only to what they called acts of self-defense, so that Ukraine can protect Kharkiv, its second-largest city, and its landscape from missiles, bombs and artillery shells coming only from across the border.
“The president recently asked his team to ensure that Ukraine can use U. S. -provided weapons for counterattack purposes in the Kharkiv region, so that Ukraine can retaliate against Russian forces attacking them or preparing to attack them,” a U. S. official said. he said in a statement released by the administration. Our policy regarding the prohibition of the use of ATACMS or long-range movements inside Russia has not changed,” he continued, referring to an artillery formula provided to Ukraine, which has the ability to succeed deep into Russian territory.
Biden’s resolution was reported earlier Thursday via Politico.
The U. S. said the policy substitution went into effect on Thursday.
Although the White House considered the measure restrictive, allowing Ukrainians to preemptively strike if they see evidence of attack preparations, or in reaction to a Russian shelling near Kharkiv, the implications are obviously much broader. Biden has so far steadfastly refused to allow Ukraine to use U. S. -made weapons outside Ukraine’s borders, regardless of provocation, saying any attack on Russian territory risks violating his mandate to “avoid World War III. “
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