Biden gave Ukraine permission to use American weapons against Russian territory

The Biden administration has reportedly given Ukraine permission to carry out attacks on Russian soil with U.S. weapons. This is what Politico revealed this week, citing several Washington officials. Several other media outlets confirmed Politico's information through different government sources.

According to the media, the authorization from the White House was intended to be discreet. The green light regards attacks with weapons provided by the United States in Russia to counter the Russian offensive against the Kharkiv region. This region, in the northeast of Ukraine and bordering Russia, is suffering a large-scale attack by Russia, which organizes its forces from within its territory, specifically the Belgorod region. The Russian Defense Ministry reported this week that its armed forces have conquered nearly 340 square miles of Ukrainian territory so far this year.

“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 was quoted as saying to Politico, adding that the policy of not allowing long-range attacks inside Russia "has not changed."

This change in U.S. policy on Ukraine's use of its weapons responds to the critical situation on the Kharkiv front and is not unconditional. Ukraine is expected to carry out strikes expressly necessary to slow the advance of Russian forces in Kharkiv rather than attacking much further afield. It does give Zelensky's government some flexibility to hit Russian supply lines behind the border.

The cited sources assure, however, that Ukraine is expressly prohibited from using U.S. weapons to strike civilian infrastructure. Nor could it use long-range missile systems to strike deep inside Russia.

NATO and European allies in favor

The green light from the White House comes after the main supporters of Ukraine in Europe, the United Kingdom and France, publicly maintained that Ukraine has the right to attack inside Russia with the weapons provided.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) also supported Ukraine in the use of foreign weapons against Russian territory on a limited basis. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg assured that Ukraine has the "international right to defend itself" and that the scenario of the war has changed. While in the early days most of the fighting took place on Ukrainian territory, this has now changed. "We see that the Russians can stand on their side of the border with a view that is more or less the same as the front line."

Therefore, Stoltenberg added that "the right to self-defen[s]e also includes the ability to strike legitimate military targets outside of Ukraine, just across the border from Russian territory." His statements come just a few weeks before the members of the alliance meet in July to deliberate as a bloc on the new principles of support for Ukraine.

Kremlin response

The Russian government said Friday that Ukrainian forces are already using U.S. weapons to attack Russia. "We know that, in general, U.S.-made weapons are already being used to try to carry out attacks on Russian territory. And this is quite eloquent proof of the extent of U.S. involvement in this conflict," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.