Biden leans towards lifting ban on strikes on Russia
30 May 2024 16:05
US President Joe Biden has come under growing pressure from allies and some of his advisers to allow Ukraine to use US weapons to strike military targets on Russian territory. Until now, he has categorically forbidden it for fear of direct confrontation and escalation of the conflict with the nuclear power. The New York Times writes about this, reports "Komersant Ukrainian"
However, now, after months of President Zelenskyy’s complaints about these restrictions, the White House has begun a formal and seemingly rapid review of its decision, the newspaper claims. Approval of strikes against Russia would allow Kyiv to counterattack artillery and missile systems currently located in the “safe zone” across the border.
On Wednesday, while in Moldova, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken became the first senior administration official to publicly hint at a possible change in position on US weapons strikes inside Russia based on the situation on the battlefield.
Blinken told the president after his visit to Kyiv that the Ukrainians might not be able to hold the territory between Kharkiv and the Russian border if Biden did not lift the ban.
Pressure on Biden has also increased from US allies. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said that Ukraine will not be able to resist the Russian offensive near Kharkiv if it is not allowed to attack command posts and artillery positions inside Russia.
On Tuesday, the leaders of France and Germany joined this call. Britain has long allowed its weapons to be used for strikes on Russian territory.
So far, Biden himself has remained silent, as is often the case when faced with a difficult decision that is hotly debated in the White House. His national security advisers are, in the words of one of them, in the midst of a “very lively process” of preparing a formal recommendation to the president.
“Biden’s two objectives in the war – to prevent Russia from winning and to prevent a third world war – have always been at odds with each other. But in the 27 months since Russia’s invasion, the need to choose between the possibility of Ukraine’s defeat and direct involvement in attacks on the territory of a nuclear superpower has never been more acute,”
– the article says.
Some of Biden’s advisers say that a change in his position is inevitable. But if he does change his mind, the restrictions will definitely remain. Biden is likely to maintain the ban on the use of US weapons to strike deep into Russian territory or critical infrastructure. Thus, the likely authorisation will only apply to strikes against military targets in close proximity to the border and involved in hostilities against Ukraine.
“But if Biden changes course, officials say, he will likely never announce it. Instead, American artillery shells and missiles would simply start falling on Russian military targets,”
– writes The New York Times.
As of today, 11 partner countries have officially announced that they do not mind the use of their weapons to attack the aggressor country. These are France, Lithuania, Latvia, Canada, Sweden, Estonia, Poland, Finland, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. However, according to military expert Oleh Zhdanov, the final decision requires the permission of one person – Joseph Biden.
