PRAGUE -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says President Joe Biden has given Ukraine the go-ahead to use U.S. weapons to strike inside Russia for the limited purpose of defending the eastern city of Kharkiv amid pleas from Ukraine to allow its forces to defend the country against attacks originating from Russian territory.
Speaking in Prague on May 31 at an informal meeting of NATO-member foreign ministers, Blinken said Ukraine had asked Washington for authorization to use U.S. weapons to strike inside Russia as it tries to defeat Russian troops that began a full-scale invasion in February 2022.
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"Over the past few weeks, Ukraine came to us and asked for the authorization to use weapons that we're providing to defend against this aggression, including against Russian forces that are massing on the Russian side of the border and then attacking into Ukraine," Blinken said.
"And that went right to the president, and as you've heard, he's approved use of our weapons for that purpose. Going forward, we'll continue to do what we've been doing, which is as necessary adapt and adjust," Blinken said.
Blinken's confirmation came after media reports quoting U.S. officials -- including one who spoke to RFE/RL -- that Biden has partially lifted the ban.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg had already added his backing to such a move saying during the Prague meeting that allies should consider lifting restrictions on the use of NATO weapons by Ukraine to hit targets on Russian territory.
The decision is a reversal of the U.S. refusal to let Ukraine use American weapons to hit targets inside Russia over fears that it would cause an escalation in the conflict.
Germany, for example, has expressed opposition to allowing the use of NATO-provided weapons to strike inside Russia, though a government spokesman on May 31 said it had also agreed that Kyiv could now use weapons supplied by Berlin to defend itself against strikes from positions just inside Russia.
"We are jointly convinced that Ukraine has the right, guaranteed under international law, to defend itself against these attacks," a German government spokesperson said in a statement.
"To do so, it can also use the weapons supplied for this purpose in accordance with its international legal obligations; including those supplied by us."
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NATO Dismisses Russian Warning After Partially Lifting Ukraine Arms Restrictions
In an interview with RFE/RL in Prague on May 31, Lithuania's top diplomat, Gabrielius Landsbergis, said allies need to change how they are looking at the war in Ukraine and allow Kyiv to use weapons to a fuller extent.
"We should not be limiting Ukrainian ability to fight back because now it looks like they're fighting with one hand tied behind their back and it's not the way that you win war," he said.
"If we're serious about them winning, then we should allow them that to do that," he added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised a response, warning of "serious consequences," especially for what he called "small countries" in Europe.
Russia's RIA Novosti news agency quoted Andrei Kartapolov, the head of the Russian parliament's lower house Defense Committee as saying on May 31 that Biden's decision would have no impact on Moscow's military operations against Ukraine.