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US President Joe Biden has agreed to let Kyiv use long-range US weapons to strike inside Russia, a major shift in the US position on the war, The New York Times reported. The shift came hours after a huge Russian attack on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Officials said the decision was made after Russia brought in North Korean troops to fight in the war and is designed to discourage Pyongyang from providing further support, the Times reported.
The decision is not expected to fundamentally alter the course of the war, they added. Russian President Vladmir Putin has previously warned that giving Kyiv permission to use such missiles would put the US and NATO directly at war with Russia, yet some US officials believe those fears are overblown and there has been significant debate within the White House and among European allies who want to avoid any escalation, The Washington Post reported.
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The decision comes after at least 10 people were killed after Russia carried out one of its largest overnight missile attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, Ukrainian President Vlodomyr Zelenskyy said Sunday, adding that its nuclear plants were not damaged.
Russia said it targeted “essential energy infrastructure supporting the Ukrainian military-industrial complex,” yet neighboring countries Moldova and Romania suggested Moscow was trying to freeze Ukraine’s population as winter approaches — a tactic Moscow has previously attempted in the war.
The trajectory of the war is in the spotlight following the re-election of US President Donald Trump, who pledged to end the conflict immediately on the campaign trail.
Although the president-elect has refused to say if he would fully support Ukraine — and has previously expressed admiration for Putin — Zelenskyy has expressed confidence in maintaining US support for Kyiv under the incoming administration.
In a radio interview Saturday, Zelenskyy said the war would end “faster” with Trump in the White House, and added that the incoming president has not directly proposed anything that would be counter to Ukraine’s goals.
Zelenskyy has reportedly offered the US and other allies access to Ukraine’s natural resources and to replace US troops stationed in Europe with Ukrainian ones once the war ends — signaling an “astute” understanding about how the Ukrainian leader might make a deal with Trump, according to an international affairs expert.