Biden getting closer to lifting ban on Ukrainian strikes with American weapons on Russian territory – NYT
U.S. President Joe Biden is moving closer to lifting his ban on attacks from American weapons on Russian territory, The New York Times writes.
"Now, after months of complaints about the restrictions from Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the White House has begun a formal — and apparently rapid — reassessment of whether to take the risk," the publication noted.
Some of Biden's advisers, who have declined to speak on the record about White House discussions, say they believe a change in his position is inevitable.
"But if the president does change his view, it will most likely come with severe restrictions on how the Ukrainians could use American-provided arms, limiting them to military targets, just inside Russia's borders, that are involved in attacks on Ukraine," the publication noted.
The New York Times adds that Biden will likely maintain a ban on the use of American weapons to strike deep into Russian territory or against critical infrastructure.
"But if Mr. Biden reverses course, officials concede he most likely will never announce it: Instead, American artillery shells and missiles will just start landing on Russian military targets," the publication noted.
However, there remains serious concern within the Biden administration about the possibility of nuclear escalation. One senior administration official said Washington had conveyed concerns to Zelenskyy's government about strikes on nuclear missile early warning systems inside Russia in recent weeks.
"To conduct the attacks, the Ukrainians used locally produced drones and missiles. But American officials voiced concerns that Moscow could misperceive Western intentions, and told Ukraine they consider the maintenance of early-warning systems to be critical to nuclear stability," the publication noted.