EU FMs to discuss lifting of ban on strikes deep inside Russia: Top diplomat

Several news outlets claimed on Sunday that President Joe Biden had agreed to further reduce restrictions on how Kiev can use Pentagon-provided weapons. The US president reportedly allowed the government of Volodymyr Zelensky to strike Russia’s Kursk Region with ATACMS ballistic missiles. The ‘victory plan’ that the Ukrainian leader submitted to the US government in September requires the unrestricted use of Western weapons.

Moscow has previously warned that it would see any move by Washington to loosen restrictions on the use of US-supplied weapons as a major escalation.

Le Figaro newspaper also claimed that France and the United Kingdom had also authorized Ukraine to use their long-range weapons to attack Russian territory.

“I continue believing this is what it has to be done [Ukraine to use weapons for long strikes deep into Russia] and I am sure will discuss it once and again… I have been saying once and again that Ukraine should be able to use the arms we provided to them,” Borrell stated ahead of the ministerial meeting in Brussels.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said Russian President Vladimir Putin has already shared his thoughts on possible Western approval for Ukraine to carry out long-range strikes deep within Russian territory.

“The president has expressed his opinion on this matter,” Zakharova told news outlet RBK on Sunday.

In September, Putin stated that Ukrainian forces lack the capability to carry out attacks with Western-supplied long-range missiles without external assistance.

“It is not a question of allowing the Ukrainian regime to strike Russia with these weapons or not. It is about deciding whether NATO countries become directly involved in the military conflict or not.”

Putin added that if a decision allowing the strikes were made, Moscow would make “appropriate decisions in response to the threats that will be posed to us”.