President Joe Biden’s administration is lifting restrictions on Ukraine’s use of long-range U.S. weapons to strike deep inside Russian territory, according to the NYT, in a major shift in U.S. policy toward Ukraine.

Ukraine plans to launch its first long-range strikes in the coming days, the sources said, without giving details due to operational security concerns.

It is noted that France and Britain had already authorized Ukraine to strike deep into Russian territory with SCALP/Storm Shadow missiles, according to French newspaper Le Figaro.

The weapons are likely to be used initially against Russian and North Korean troops defending Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region of western Russia.

The first deep strikes are likely to be carried out using ATACMS missiles, which have a range of up to 306 kilometers, sources said.

The White House declined to comment.

The United States’ move, two months before Donald Trump takes office on January 20, comes after months of calls by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to allow Ukraine’s military to use American weapons to strike military targets deep inside Russian territory. territory.

What changed US politics?

The easing of restrictions that allow Kiev to use the ATACMS system to strike targets inside Russia is a major reversal in US policy and comes as about 10,000 elite North Korean troops have been deployed in Kursk, a region of Russia along the of Ukraine’s northern border, to help Moscow’s forces recapture the ground gained by Ukraine.

The Biden administration fears that more North Korean special forces units could follow to support that effort.

While some US officials have expressed skepticism that allowing long-range strikes will change the overall trajectory of the war, the decision could help Ukraine at a time when Russian forces are making gains and possibly put Kiev in a better negotiating position when and if ceasefire talks take place.

Ukraine’s control of Russian territory has become increasingly important as both sides seek to increase their leverage ahead of negotiation talks. Kremlin sources say Putin is unwilling to start negotiations while the Ukrainians are on Russian soil. The Biden administration is focused on helping Kiev maintain its bargaining power there as much as possible.

It is unclear whether Trump will reverse Biden’s decision when he takes office. Trump has long criticized the scale of US economic and military aid to Ukraine and has pledged to end the war quickly.

But some congressional Republicans have urged Biden to loosen rules on how Ukraine can use US-supplied weapons.

Concern about Russia’s reaction

Russia has warned that a move to loosen limits on the use of US weapons by Ukraine would be seen as a major escalation.

Putin has explicitly stated that he considers the use of ATACMS a red line. In September, he warned that such a strike on Russian soil with US weapons “changes the very essence, the nature of the conflict”, warning that his country would respond.

Later that month, he revised Russia’s nuclear doctrine in what was interpreted as a veiled threat against using US-supplied long-range weapons on Russian soil.

Biden began easing U.S.-supplied restrictions on the use of weapons on Russian soil after Russia launched a cross-border attack in May in the direction of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.

To help the Ukrainians defend Kharkiv, Biden authorized them to use the HIMARS missile system, which has a range of about 50 miles, against Russian forces directly across the border. But Biden did not allow the Ukrainians to use the ATACMS systems, which have a range of about 190 miles, to defend Kharkiv.

Britain and France have given the Ukrainians a limited number of Storm Shadow and SCALP missiles, which have a range of about 155 miles, shorter than the US missile system.

While Britain and France expressed support for Zelensky’s request, they were reluctant to allow the Ukrainians to begin using their missiles on Russian soil unless Biden agreed to allow the Ukrainians to do the same with the ATACMS.