According to the New York Times, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hinted on 29 May that the Biden administration could be open to tolerating strikes by the Ukrainian military inside Russia using American-made weapons.
Speaking in Chișinău, Moldova alongside President Maia Sandu, Blinken said the US had neither encouraged nor enabled such attacks by Ukraine within Russian territory. However, he stated that the Ukrainians needed to make their own decisions on how to best defend themselves, and that the US government had “adapted and adjusted as necessary” as the war evolves.
When asked if his words “adapt and adjust” meant the United States could support attacks by Ukraine with American-made weapons inside Russia, Blinken replied, “Adapt and adjust means exactly that” — signaling potential flexibility from Washington on the issue.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the US has provided military aid to Ukraine but repeatedly asked them not to fire US-made weapons into Russian territory, fearing an escalation of the war. However, several European leaders, including NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and French President Emmanuel Macron, have called on President Biden to lift these restrictions.
Read also:
- Ukraine strikes Russian territory with Western arms, most recently against Krasnodar – AFP
- The Guardian: Scholz, Macron seem to support allowing Ukraine to strike Russia with Western weapons
- Stoltenberg: Ukraine’s right of self-defense includes striking military targets inside Russia
- Belgium PM: Ukraine to receive 30 F-16s, can use them only within Ukraine
- Ukraine’s “hands tied” by US weapons restrictions to strike inside Russia
- US House Speaker Johnson voices support for Ukraine striking Russia with US arms