Washington says may authorize Ukraine to use US weapons to strike deep into Russia

“Our policy hasn’t changed. We do allow those cross-border strikes when Russia is attacking from the other side of the border,” she told a briefing.

“And as the war has changed, we have changed, our policies have adapted. And you’ve seen that play out in Kharkov and it could expand into other areas. But right now, we have not authorized the use of ATACMS for deep strike capabilities within Russia,” she stressed.

US President Joe Biden told a news conference after the NATO summit in Washington that he sees no reason to give Kiev permission to use US weapons to strike Moscow or other Russian regions within the same range.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on May 28 that the selection of targets and flight assignments for modern strike systems are made remotely or automatically, “without the presence of Ukrainian servicemen”. This is done by those who produce and supply these systems to Ukraine, he pointed out. Putin warned that NATO countries should “realize what they are playing with”.

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev emphasized on May 31 that all long-range weapons delivered to Ukraine are already “directly controlled by NATO servicemen” and that such actions could be a pretext for retaliatory strikes.