Outgoing United States President Joe Biden will allow Ukraine to use US-provided weapons to strike inside Russia, various news outlets, including Reuters, the Associated Press and the New York Times, have reported.
Three sources, familiar with the matter, including two US officials, told Reuters on Sunday that Ukraine plans to carry out long-range attacks using the weapons in the coming days.
The White House has not commented on the reports, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the missiles would “speak for themselves”.
“Today, many in the media are saying that we have received permission to take appropriate actions,” Zelenskyy said in his evening address to Ukrainians. “But strikes are not made with words. Such things are not announced. The missiles will speak for themselves.”
The Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski welcomed the reports, saying that the US was responding to Russia in “a language that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin understands”.
Vladimir Dzhabarov, a Russian lawmaker, said that allowing Ukraine to strike inside Russia with US-supplied missiles would lead to a third world war, according to state news agency TASS. The lawmaker added that the Russian response would be immediate.
The move by Biden comes as he prepares to leave office in two months, with President-elect Donald Trump taking office on January 20.
Trump and members of his incoming administration have indicated that they are more sceptical of heavily supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia, and it is unclear whether Trump will reverse the decision to allow Ukraine to use the US-supplied weapons inside Russia.
The Republican leader has promised to end the war quickly, but has not given details as to how he would go about doing so.
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