president Biden’s decision The major policy shift, announced over the weekend after months of intense lobbying by Kiev and allowing Ukraine to launch U.S.-made and supplied missiles deep into Russia, drew a furious reaction from Moscow. There was no direct response from the man who started a nearly three-year war against its neighbor, but lawmakers aligned with Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday the move was unacceptable and threatened to lead to World War III. He warned that there was a possibility of a connection.
Biden authorized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to use U.S.-made missiles known as ATACMS, which have a range of about 200 miles, to strike deeper into Russian territory than the Ukrainians have hit so far. did.
So far, Ukrainian attacks across Russia’s adjacent border areas have been limited to non-U.S. and far less powerful weapons, such as explosive drones. ATACMS are far more destructive and difficult to shoot down as they move toward their programmed targets.
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Zelenskiy’s administration had been asking the U.S. government for permission to use missiles for long-range attacks for some time, but the Biden administration was reluctant, fearing the possibility of escalating the war.
But over the weekend, the calculus clearly changed. The decision comes nearly 1,000 days after the start of a full-scale war in Ukraine, and about two months before Biden hands over the keys to the White House to President-elect Trump. The Russian-occupied territory.
Also came as Russia Hit Ukraine with devastating missile attackThis underscores Ukraine’s earnest desire for the ability to target Russian weapons systems deep within the country before they are launched, something President Zelenskiy has been emphasizing for more than a year.
Many of the Russian rockets fired on Sunday targeted energy infrastructure, but ballistic missiles loaded with cluster munitions also hit residential areas in the northern city of Sumy, killing 11 people, including two children, and killing more than 80. was injured. At least eight people, including a child, were killed in fresh airstrikes on an apartment building in the southern city of Odesa on Monday, local authorities said.
Residents of Sumy were targeted even as they slept, and Ukrainian authorities called Sunday’s salvo of missile and drone fire one of the largest Russian attacks since the start of the war.
The outgoing Washington administration’s policy changes will allow Ukraine’s military to retaliate more forcefully and push further into Russia than ever before. For months, the Ukrainian military has launched drone strikes inside Russian territory, including targeting Moscow, but with limited success.
President Zelenskiy welcomed the change in US policy, saying: “An attack will not be carried out with words…The missiles will speak for themselves.”
But Ukraine’s wartime leaders also appear to recognize the change in policy in Washington that President Trump’s second oath would bring, favoring the protection of Ukraine’s sovereign territory from unilateral annexation by Russia. , much more emphasis is expected to be placed on reaching a negotiated ceasefire.
In an interview with the Ukrainian Press Agency, President Zelensky said, “It is certain that the policies of the team currently leading the White House will end the war faster. This is their approach and their promise to the people.” added. “We must do everything possible to end this war by diplomatic means so that it ends next year.”
Meanwhile, in Moscow, senior lawmaker Leonid Slutsky slammed Biden, accusing him of deciding to “end his term as president and go down in history as ‘Bloody Joe.'”
Meanwhile, Senator Vladimir Dzhabarov told Russia’s state news agency TASS that Biden’s decision meant “a very big step towards the start of World War III.”
Russia’s state-run newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta warned that “the lunatics who are drawing NATO into a direct conflict with our country may soon suffer greatly.”
President Putin had previously privately warned about the situation. Warning issued in September He said that allowing the United States to fire long-range missiles provided by the United States into Ukraine “means that NATO countries, the United States, and European countries are parties to the war in Ukraine.”
But Putin himself has since dramatically raised the stakes in the war, overseeing the deployment of at least 11,000 North Korean troops to fight alongside Russian forces. They took part in fighting in Russia’s western Kursk region, which Ukrainian forces captured in a surprise attack earlier this year.
John Sullivan, who served as U.S. ambassador to Russia under the Trump and Biden administrations, said Putin’s actions “solidified a global conflict with North Korean forces fighting in Europe.” It may be. This will be the “last straw” for the current US president.
Sullivan said Monday on CBS Morning: “With this escalation after escalation by President Putin, in my opinion, it’s time for the United States to give the Ukrainians the ability to more fully defend themselves.” he said.
The content of the authorization granted to Ukraine for the use of ATACMS has not been confirmed, but reports indicate that it includes and is limited to Ukraine using the missile to attack Russian defense positions in Kursk. It is said that there is a possibility that
James Nixey, head of the Russia and Eurasia program at London-based think tank Chatham House, said in an analysis on Monday that the U.S. government’s policy changes are “not a game changer,” especially if they include policy changes in Ukraine. said. Use ATACMS.
“The relaxation of range restrictions on the use of US ATACMS by Ukraine follows the overall pattern of the US approach to this war: to prevent Ukraine from inflicting significant damage on Russia…but to provide hardware and a modest increase in its usage over time,” he said. “If it is true that the authorization applies only to the Kursk region (and is therefore primarily directed to North Korean forces), then this still fits the pattern and means that the overall impact on the war is negligible.”
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