He refused to do so until now. But Joe Biden ended up giving the green light for Ukraine to strike targets on Russian soil, in the Kharkiv region, under certain conditions.
“The president has tasked his team with ensuring that Ukraine can use American weapons to counterattack in the Kharkiv region, so as to retaliate when Russian forces attack them or prepare to attack them “, said an American official on Thursday.
Still opposed to Ukrainian strikes deep into Russian territory
This official, who requested anonymity, however added that the United States continued to oppose Ukrainian strikes deep into Russian territory. “Our position on prohibiting the use of ATACMS or deep strikes inside Russia has not changed,” he said. ATACMS are long-range missiles supplied by the Americans to Ukraine, capable of reaching a distance of up to 300 km.
Kharkiv, in eastern Ukraine, is the almost daily target of bombings mainly coming from Russian territory. Russia launched an offensive in the region at the beginning of May, and is gaining ground against a struggling Ukrainian army.
“We adapted and adjusted”
The head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken suggested on Wednesday that the United States had changed its position in terms of Ukrainian strikes on Russian soil. “As conditions have changed, as the battlefield has changed, as Russia has changed the way it conducts its aggression, we have adapted and adjusted and I am confident that we will continue to do so,” he said. he told the press during a visit to Moldova, a country bordering Ukraine.
The turnaround made by Joe Biden comes after weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiations between the White House, senior officials of the army and the State Department, following the launch of the Russian offensive on Kharkiv on May 10. Ukraine requested permission on May 13 to use American weapons to strike targets on Russian territory. The American president gave his agreement in principle on May 15.
For its part, NATO is pushing Western capitals to lift restrictions that “tie the hands behind the backs of Ukrainians”, in the words of its Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, a position that several countries have joined, including the France. The Kremlin, for its part, criticized the Atlantic alliance for launching “a new cycle of escalation”.